Avoid assessment delays

Try to avoid these top ten delays:

  1. Insufficient information (see below)
  2. Poor quality plans or Statement of Environmental Effects
  3. Poor compliance with development rules
  4. Poor designs having unacceptable impacts
  5. Objections
  6. Unsatisfactory stormwater drainage designs
  7. Unsatisfactory impacts on trees
  8. Multiple replacement applications
  9. Complexity required in assessment reports
  10. External referral delays

Insufficient information

We request additional information from more than 30% of all applicants. Additional information is commonly requested on the following matters:

  1. Impact on heritage items or conservation areas. Use the Woollahra LEP 2014 heritage map and DA Guide Attachment 2 - Heritage Impact Statement(PDF, 221KB) to make sure you submit all the information you are required to.
  2. Investigation of potential acid sulphate soils. Use the Woollahra LEP 2014 acid sulphate soils map to see if you are affected and DA Guide Attachment 5 - Acid Sulphate Soils Reports(PDF, 137KB) to make sure you submit all the information you are required to.
  3. Requirements for potentially contaminated land. Make sure you read Chapter 4 'Remediation of land requirements' contained within SEPP (Resilience & Hazards) 2021.
  4. Lack of easements for gravity stormwater disposal
  5. Site access grades that are too steep and rights of way with no legal access
  6. Lack of investigation into potential flooding
  7. Lack of justification for removal of trees. See the DA Guide Attachment 4 - Trees Reports(PDF, 181KB) which covers Arboricultural Assessment Reports, Tree Management Reports, Transplant Method Statements and Root Mapping Reports to see if you need to consider heritage.

If your DA does not have the information required it will take longer to process your application.

May Council require additional information later in the process?

Yes. Once we have all the relevant reports and have had the opportunity to review them, we may come back with a request for clarification or further detail. This request may be by phone, email or letter. The applicant, at this stage, will deal directly with one of our expert assessment officers.

If you provide further information to any one of our experts, make sure you also send it to your assessment officer so they are aware that you are progressing the application.

What happens if Council is not provided with the information requested?

If the information requested is not provided within the timeframes set out in the request, then our Development Assessment Team Leaders have delegated authority to refuse the application on the basis that the Applicant has not provided sufficient information to allow a proper assessment. We may give reasonable extensions on a case by case basis but we will not accept unreasonable delays that may affect the time and resources we have available to process other applications.

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