Development Applications &
Subdivision Applications

DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

We can manage your project throughout the Development Application (DA) process, with experience in:

• Residential, commercial, industrial and educational land-uses.

• Tourist Accommodation in rural settings, involving chalets, cabins, tiny-homes, caravans, eco-tents, restaurants, wedding venues, and liquor licences.

• Bushfire, noise, traffic, and wastewater requirements, with expert associates also at hand for specialist reports.

• New buildings, additions and alterations, landscaping, change of land-use, signs and trading permits.

• Small, medium and large scale projects.

• Apartment Guidelines (SPP7), and Development Assessment Panel (DAPs / JDAP’s).

• Urban and rural locations, all Perth metro and all country councils.

In particular, our involvement will give your project the best chance of succeeding by:

• Site visits with a face-to-face meeting.

• Designing your project and mapping-out the ways it can be handled.

• High-quality drafting of plans (vector and raster) of a non-architectural nature, including nearmap aerials.

• Seeking input from the relevant authorities and representation at meetings.

• Producing planning reports and subsequent lodgement.

• Ongoing advice and reassurance.

• Modifying your project where necessary.

• Supporting your project at council meetings.

Urban Design

Urban design can mean many things, but at its heart is the process of identifying issues and providing design responses for analysis and selection.

We can help you design buildings and outdoor areas for your home or business, with a strong understanding of town planning constraints, before the project encounters obstacles.

We can also produce a potential subdivision design for yield estimation, which can significantly affect the viability of your project.

Due Diligence & Feasibility Studies

The purpose of a due diligence (or feasibility) study is to investigate a potential project via various tests, in order to make informed decisions prior to commencement of a project. 

One of the tests can be centred of town planning, which can reveal statutory, political, historical, and other various factors. As an example, most people understand what an R-coding means for a property, being a numerical indication of its subdivision potential (yield), which can indicate profit.

However, previous clients have been advised of factors that limited subdivision yield and made the project financially unviable. Prospective landowners need to be advised of hidden issues such as statutory impasses (e.g. dual-density criteria that can never be achieved), significant infrastructure relocation issues (e.g. high-voltage power-lines), and environmental considerations (e.g. town planning schemes that prevent bush-clearing).

Structure Plans

Creating a Structure Plan or Master Plan for your property, or having one imposed upon it, can drastically alter profitability, and put you on the path of subdivision, gaining Certificates of Title, and selling land.

Structure Plans identify opportunities and constraints of an area, sometimes owned by several different parties, and puts in place a general plan that owners need to abide to when subdividing into smaller lots.

This process shouldn't be taken lightly, as one of the landowners in the area may initialise this process, and try to shirk less-profitable land-uses (e.g. schools, roads and Public Open Space) onto neighbouring properties.

If you have a large rural property that you want to subdivide in the future, let us advise you of the process, initialise a Structure Plan, or represent you if one if being imposed upon your land.

Landscaping

Often the component of a project that is forgotten or cut-back, landscaping is a key aspect of a home or business that makes a space a place. It should have an aesthetically pleasing form, whilst also being functional, creates a water-saving micro-climate, and adds value to the property.

We are well-travelled and have years of experience with gardens, learning from successes and failures, to be able to integrate influences and inspiration into your garden design. Whilst our focus is on design and approvals, we can take it to the next step by organising a landscaping contractor for you.

It is strongly recommended that your project at least have a landscaping master-plan, so that:

• Conditions of planning approval are met.

• Reticulation systems work hard so that you don’t have to. And if not addressed, your garden can quickly suffer and require replanting.

• Slow-growing trees are planted early, so that their benefits can be realised as soon as possible.

• Landscaping constraints are not magnified, and opportunities are not lost.

Appeals, Mediation & Prosecutions

When faced with an impending refusal, you still have options. Sometimes it’s best to redesign the project, but sometimes you should consider an appeal.

Sometimes the turning point can be with objections from neighbours, due to various reasons. The best thing to do at this point is to get a professional in to address the neighbours concerns with the emotions removed.

The State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) provides a mechanism to mediate issues, present further information, initiate a Council reconsideration, or conduct a hearing to gain a legally-binding planning decision.

Planning Outcomes can assist with all aspects of appeals, including guiding you though the process, advising you on the best course of action, lodgement, representation, and expert witnesses.

Councils also prosecute landowners (charges in the Magistrates Court) for a variety of offences in various statutory documents. Our detailed experience in these types of matters  can given you timely advice to prevent prosecution, or represent you if proceedings have been commenced.

You should always consider engaging the services of a solicitor or barrister for SAT and Magistrates Court matters, but do so armed with the knowledge that many of their services can be obtained for less than half the cost via an experienced planning consultant. Alternatively, lawyers can be brought on board, if and when required, with a far lesser financial burden.

NO-OBLIGATION CONSULT

To request a free, no obligation consult, phone Matt on 0408 000 477, use the e-mail buttons below, or complete the enquiry form. Let's chat.