You will need a development approval if you intend to propose a development that will require you to:
- carry out building work, plumbing or drainage work, or operational work - building a house, garage or extending an existing building, structure or making changes to the land itself (e.g. earthworks, vegetation clearing, building a pontoon)
- reconfigure a lot - subdividing land or carrying out other actions such as amalgamating lots or rearranging boundaries
- make a material change to use of premises - a new use of a building, structure or land, or intensifying an existing use (e.g. expanding a shopping centre, or developing a new hotel on land that was previously occupied by an office).
There are 3 categories of development:
- prohibited development - approval will not be given
- assessable development - approval is required
- accepted development - approval is not required.
You can assess which category your development falls into by using a categorising instrument, which includes the state legislation and local categorising instrument (such as a local government's planning scheme). A categorising instrument can specify the categories of assessment that apply to development (and other matters, such as assessment benchmarks).
If you are undertaking assessable development, it may be either a code assessable development or an impact assessable development. Code assessable developments do not require public consultation, while impact assessable developments do.
You should contact the relevant council, local authority or agency to check if additional licences or permits are required for your development activities. For matters where the State has jurisdiction, pre-lodgement advice can be obtained by contacting the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA).
