Development Assessment

On 3 July 2017, the Planning Act 2016 came into effect. Council's Development Assessment processes and systems align with this framework for all applications received after this date. Please refer to this fact sheet for further details on the Development Assessment Process. 

Development is managed by the Planning Act 2016 and Council's Planning Schemes. In general terms, development is defined under various land uses, which have differing requirements depending on their location.

The State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) fast track framework is a streamlined referral and assessment process that allows for eligible triggers and aspects of development to be assessed and quickly decided by SARA. If a triggered aspect of development within your application qualifies for a fast track assessment, a reduced fee will apply to those triggers.

Please contact Council to discuss whether your development requires a Development Permit from the Development Assessment team as part of your planning process prior to construction commencing.

Planning Advice

Please note that a clear and detailed understanding of the proposed development will assist us in the process of providing advice. 

For confirmation of existing approvals on your land, planning searches can be carried out (fees apply).

Planning advice in relation to proposed developments can be obtained from Council in several ways: 

By Email

Send your enquiry through to mail@scenicrim.qld.gov.au with property details, description of the enquiry and your contact details to receive advice via phone call or email. This method is for general property enquiries (i.e. easements, building envelopes, zoning)

Front Counter Appointment

A front counter appointment is a free service of up to 15 minutes for general property enquiries (i.e. easements, building envelopes, zoning) and minor development investigations, where no minutes are given. Contact Council on 07 5540 5111 to arrange an appointment (please ask to speak with Planning). 

Pre-lodgement Meeting

A formal pre-lodgement meeting can also be scheduled for further discussions (fees apply), which may include meeting with Council's technical assessment officers for more complex developments. Please submit the application form and a Council officer will contact you to schedule this meeting.

Please note:

• Fees required for this meeting request are payable at the time of lodging a Pre-lodgement Meeting Application.
• Meeting times will not be confirmed until payment is received.
• Council must be advised 24 hours in advance if re-scheduling or non-attendance is required to avoid an additional fee of $500.
• The pre-lodgement application fee paid will be subtracted from the total application fee if the subject development application is lodged to Council within 12 months of the pre-lodgement meeting date.

You can lodge your Pre-lodgement Meeting Application with Council via email, post, or in person at any of Council's customer service locations. 

As part of the pre-lodgement process, you may also wish to contact the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) to discuss State referral triggers and concerns (i.e. state-controlled road matters). Contact details are below:

Email: SARA@dilgp.qld.gov.au

Phone: 07 3432 2413

DOWNLOAD PRE-LODGEMENT MEETING FACT SHEET

Development Application Forms

Council now accepts applications via email (with the exception of Plan of Survey). Quick links to application forms can be found below.

Under s53(6) of the Planning Act 2016, any person may make a submission, being a written explanation supporting or opposing a development proposal, to Council during the public notification period of a Development Application. If the submission is considered properly made, it will grant the submitter appeal rights against any future decision made by Council.

A properly made submission can be lodged electronically or in hard copy. In order to be considered a properly made submission, the following requirements must be adhered to:

A written submission must:

• Be signed by each person making the submission (if electronic submission, the typed name will be considered an electronic signature);
• Be received during the notification period;
• State the name and residential or business address of each person who is making the submission;
• State the grounds of the submission and the facts and circumstances relied on in support of the grounds; and
• Be made to the Assessment Manager.

Please note: In accordance with the Planning Act 2016, if a submission has been made by two or more persons, only the principal submitter (the person identified as the contact person or if no person is identified, the submitter whose name first appears on the submission) will be acknowledged, receive a copy of the Decision Notice and will have potential appeal rights. This includes submissions by petition.

Infrastructure Charges

As part of the Development Assessment process, your application may require Infrastructure Charges. Please follow this link for further information or phone 07 5540 5111 to speak with one of our Planners. 

Strata Titles

Strata titling allows individual ownership of part of a property (called a "lot" and generally an apartment or townhouse), combined with shared ownership in the remainder (called 'Common Property' e.g. foyers, driveways, gardens) through a legal entity called the body corporate. 

In Queensland, the term strata title is associated with a Community Titles Scheme. A very common form of a Community Titles Scheme involves the creation of building format lots. These can only be established on existing structures as the boundary of the lots (known as building format lots) are defined by structural elements of the building (generally the centreline of all walls, floors and ceilings). A common example of this is a dual occupancy (however it is not an obligation for a dual occupancy development to establish a Community Titles Scheme).

When a Community Titles Scheme is creating standard format lots (the format type most people are familiar with) this requires approval for Reconfiguring a Lot (subdivision of land). A Community Titles Scheme may also create building format lots. A building format plan must create common property and at least two building format lots and they are exempt development under the planning legislation (so they do not trigger a town planning approval). In the latter case, Council's involvement is usually limited to granting consent to the Community Management Statement and the Survey Plan as Local Government Authority (not as a result of a planning approval).

We strongly encourage you to seek professional advice (from solicitors, town planners and / or surveyors) in relation to your strata title enquiry as this usually relies more heavily on legislation other than planning legislation.  The development you may be thinking of may still require a number of approvals (planning, building and plumbing) before it gets to the stage where a Community Titles Scheme can be established. The actions involved in implementing a particular "strata title" development may bring up a considerable number of scenarios and professionals in the field will be able to give you a clear understanding of what's involved and what to expect.