New South Wales · Preliminary planning reports
Preliminary planning reports in New South Wales
A $150 desktop planning assessment for any address in New South Wales. We take the parcel from the state cadastre, sweep the zoning and overlay mapping at the parcel, read the LEP, DCP and the SEPPs in force and cite it by clause, and set out in writing what was checked and what was not. Prepared and professionally reasoned by our planning team and delivered within three business days.
What governs a site in New South Wales
In New South Wales, what a site can be used for is set first by the council’s Local Environmental Plan, which zones the land and carries the standards with legal weight, and then by its Development Control Plan, which holds the more detailed design controls. Above both sit the State Environmental Planning Policies, which apply across the state and can override a local plan.
The state policies most likely to matter for a residential or small development site are the Housing SEPP 2021, the Exempt and Complying Development Codes SEPP 2008, the Resilience and Hazards SEPP 2021, the Biodiversity and Conservation SEPP 2021 and the Transport and Infrastructure SEPP 2021. Which of them touch a given parcel depends on the mapping at that parcel, which is why the report sweeps the layers rather than reading the zone alone.
The NSW Planning Portal is the state’s official planning system, where the LEP maps and the state policy layers are published.
The instruments the report reads in New South Wales
- Local Environmental Plan (LEP) · zoning and the principal development standards
- Development Control Plan (DCP) · the council’s detailed design controls
- Housing SEPP 2021 · state housing policy
- Exempt and Complying Development Codes SEPP 2008 · the exempt and complying pathways
- Resilience and Hazards SEPP 2021 · hazards and contamination
- Biodiversity and Conservation SEPP 2021 · vegetation, koala habitat and waterways
- Transport and Infrastructure SEPP 2021 · infrastructure and transport corridors
Councils in New South Wales
Every local government area in New South Wales, from the ABS local government area list. Each page explains how the report works for a site in that council.
- Albury
- Armidale
- Ballina
- Balranald
- Bathurst
- Bayside
- Bega Valley
- Bellingen
- Berrigan
- Blacktown
- Bland
- Blayney
- Blue Mountains
- Bogan
- Bourke
- Brewarrina
- Broken Hill
- Burwood
- Byron
- Cabonne
- Camden
- Campbelltown
- Canada Bay
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Carrathool
- Central Coast
- Central Darling
- Cessnock
- Clarence Valley
- Cobar
- Coffs Harbour
- Coolamon
- Coonamble
- Cootamundra-Gundagai
- Cowra
- Cumberland
- Dubbo
- Dungog
- Edward River
- Eurobodalla
- Fairfield
- Federation
- Forbes
- Georges River
- Gilgandra
- Glen Innes Severn
- Goulburn Mulwaree
- Greater Hume
- Griffith
- Gunnedah
- Gwydir
- Hawkesbury
- Hay
- Hilltops
- Hornsby
- Hunters Hill
- Inner West
- Inverell
- Junee
- Kempsey
- Kiama
- Ku-ring-gai
- Kyogle
- Lachlan
- Lake Macquarie
- Lane Cove
- Leeton
- Lismore
- Lithgow
- Liverpool
- Liverpool Plains
- Lockhart
- Maitland
- Mid-Coast
- Mid-Western
- Moree Plains
- Mosman
- Murray River
- Murrumbidgee
- Muswellbrook
- Nambucca Valley
- Narrabri
- Narrandera
- Narromine
- Newcastle
- North Sydney
- Northern Beaches
- Oberon
- Orange
- Parkes
- Parramatta
- Penrith
- Port Macquarie-Hastings
- Port Stephens
- Queanbeyan-Palerang
- Randwick
- Richmond Valley
- Ryde
- Shellharbour
- Shoalhaven
- Singleton
- Snowy Monaro
- Snowy Valleys
- Strathfield
- Sutherland
- Sydney
- Tamworth
- Temora
- Tenterfield
- The Hills
- Tweed
- Upper Hunter
- Upper Lachlan
- Uralla
- Wagga Wagga
- Walcha
- Walgett
- Warren
- Warrumbungle
- Waverley
- Weddin
- Wentworth
- Willoughby
- Wingecarribee
- Wollondilly
- Wollongong
- Woollahra
- Yass Valley
How the report works for a site in New South Wales
The same five steps for every site in Australia, applied to the LEP, DCP and the SEPPs. Nothing is stated that was not checked, and what was not checked is stated.
Step 1
Parcel from the state cadastre
We take the parcel from the state cadastre and project it, so the report is about the lot itself and not a point on a street.
Step 2
Zoning and overlays swept at the parcel
The zoning and overlay mapping is swept at the parcel boundary, not at a single point, so a layer that touches one corner of the block is caught.
Step 3
The instrument in force, cited by clause
We read the planning instrument in force and cite it by clause, with its version and date, so every statement in the report can be checked at the source.
Step 4
Nearby applications where a public register exists
Where the council keeps a public register of applications, we read the nearby ones and cite what we found. We do not hold a database of decisions for the council.
Step 5
A written statement of what was not checked
Anything the report did not check is stated in writing, so you know the edges of the answer as well as the answer.
We do not hold a database of council decisions in New South Wales. Where a council publishes a public register of applications, the report reads the nearby ones and cites what it found. Our free block checker covers South East Queensland only, so it is not offered in New South Wales.
Taking a New South Wales project through to lodgement
DA projects are quoted individually. We take a limited number at a time so each gets a director’s attention, and we reply within one business day with availability.
Know your site before you commit
A $150 report for any address in New South Wales: the parcel, the zoning and overlays at the parcel, the LEP, DCP and the SEPPs cited by clause, and a written statement of what was not checked. Prepared and professionally reasoned by our planning team and delivered within three business days.