About development plans

A Development Plan is a plan which demonstrates future spatial layout of the land, including where residential lots, roads, pathways, open space and physical infrastructure should be located. A Development Plan is required to be submitted and approved for land affected by a Development Plan Overlay prior to issuing a planning permit for the subdivision or development of land.

If a Development Plan is approved, a planning permit application for the development (including subdivision) of the subject land can be submitted and assessed by Council’s Statutory Planning team. The planning permit application will be exempt from the notice requirements of the Planning and Environment Act 1987 if it is generally in accordance with the approved Development Plan. This means that potentially affected parties won’t be notified of the application, and there are no ‘third-party appeal’ rights (i.e. you cannot object, nor can you appeal a decision by Council).

The process of assessing a Development Plan includes the following steps:

Once Council’s Strategic Planning team is satisfied that a proposed Development Plan meets the requirements of the Development Plan Overlay schedule, the plan will be made available on Council’s website for a period of two weeks and letters are to be sent to adjoining and adjacent land owners and occupiers notifying them of the Development Plan.

While Council is not legally required to undertake public notification of development plans, it has chosen to do so in order to increase community awareness of any impending development.

If Council receives comments from interested parties concerning the draft Development Plan, these are to be considered in the preparation of the final Development Plan. The interested parties will also be kept informed of the progress of the Development Plan.

If the Development Plan is approved, any planning permit application that is considered to be generally in accordance with the approved Development Plan will be exempt from the notice requirements of section 52(1)(a), (b) and (d), the decision requirements of section 64(1), (2) and (3) and the review rights of section 82(1) of the Planning and Environment Act 1987. That is, under the provisions of the DPO, you will not receive further notification of any subsequent permit application, and you will not have ‘third-party appeal’ rights (i.e. you cannot object, nor can you appeal a decision by Council).