Development Applications &
Subdivision Applications

DEVELOPMENT APPLICATIONS

We can assist your project throughout the Development Application (DA) process, including project types such as:

• Residential, commercial and industrial.

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

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

• Ongoing experience with Holiday / Tourist Accommodation in rural settings (chalets, eco-tents, restaurants and liquor licences).

• Ongoing experience with Bushfire, Noise and Traffic requirements, with expert associates also at hand.

• Experience with small, medium and large scale projects.

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

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

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

• Site visit with face-to-face meeting.

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

• In-house drafting of plans, with close architectural contacts.

• Seeking input from the relevant authorities and subsequent lodgement.

• Representation at meetings.

• Justifying why your project should be approved in planning language.

• Justifying why your neighbour’s project should be redesigned or refused.

• Being an intermediary between disputing neighbours.

• Ongoing advice and reassurance.

• Modifying your project where necessary or advantageous.

• Supporting your project at council meetings.

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.

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.

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:

• Reticulation systems work hard so that you don’t have to. The time and effort required to water a garden can easily accumulate, especially during the warmer months. And if not addressed, your garden can quickly suffer and require replanting.
• Reticulation lines can quickly be laid before physical obstructions are constructed.
• 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.

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 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.

Real Estate Compliance Check

Did you know that when you buy real estate, you assume all responsibility for any previous illegal work? If the local council finds out (and they frequently do), they won't be interested if you didn't do it, because the law refers to the current landowner. 

Structures such as patios and sheds are frequently built without approvals, and the requirement to gain approval varies from council to council.

With years of compliance experience, including prosecution, can you afford not to have us check?

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.