Development approval - Longreach Regional Council - Queensland

Description

You will require 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.

Prohibited development is not allowed under any circumstances. Only the State has the ability to prohibit developments.

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 no categorising instrument categorises your particular development, the development falls under the accepted development category.

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.

If your development involves variations from the allowed standards, you will need to have those variations assessed by the referral agency. Variations could include distance from property boundaries or the height of the building. The referral agency is likely to be the council or local authority.

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).

Service type

Licence

A licence defines the need to obtain recognition / certification and registration to undertake a certain business activity.

Exemptions

Exemption certificates release you from the need to get approval for assessable development. An exemption certificate is a statutory mechanism to deal with the inappropriate categorisation of development or if the effect of a proposed development is considered to be inconsequential. They are only issued in exceptional circumstances. The exemption certificate has effect for two years from the issue date or a later day stated in the certificate.

Ongoing eligibility requirements

Where a development approval has been given, you will need to ensure that you have obtained any other necessary licences or permits before starting the development. You should also check the currency period on your approval - that is, the length of time you have to start the development.

Duration

6 years

Fees

Fees Details for this service in table format.

Task Type Business Structure Description
Apply Application All

Fees vary. Please use the contact details below for information on fees to be submitted.

Application process

Apply

Throughout the assessment process, notices will be exchanged between you and the assessment manager and any referral agencies. The assessment manager and referral agencies have a legislated set period of time to finalise each step of the process and decide the outcome of your development application.

The assessment manager can issue three types of decisions on a development application:

  • approval of all or part of the development application - this allows you to proceed with the development (subject to any other required approvals or permits)
  • approval of all or part of the development application, with conditions - this allows you to progress with your development, but only in line with the conditions attached to the approval and subject to any other required approvals or permits
  • refusal - you are not permitted to progress the development.

Where a council or local authority is the assessment manager, you can apply for this approval by completing and submitting the relevant application(s) to the Chief Executive Officer for the area in which the development will take place.

Where the Queensland Government is the assessment manager, the best method of lodgement is via the MyDAS online preparation and lodgement system.

Lodgement process

  1. Find out whether you need to lodge an application.
  2. If a development proposal is identified as assessable development, you need to lodge a development application to the correct assessment manager. Some applications will require additional assessment by a referral agency.
  3. Prepare and lodge a 'properly made' application.
  4. Assessment begins.
  5. A decision is made.
  6. Appealing a decision and resolving disputes.
  7. Once your application has been approved or approved with conditions and all relevant appeal periods have ended, the development approval takes effect.

Approval time

The development approval process can take anywhere between 2 weeks and 4 months, depending on the complexity of the application.

Transfer

You cannot transfer this approval.

Administering agency

Longreach Regional Council

Contact details

Contact Email, Phone and Address Details for this service in simple two column table format, header then data.