The Basics
There are few rules when it comes to making a development application objection or submission. Your goals should be to:
convey your concerns clearly, prioritising those that matter most;
provide information necessary to make sure the concern can be understood;
make it clear what outcome you are seeking – outright rejection or amendments?
What to include in your DA objection
The council notification will provide you with information about what options are available for making your DA objection or submission, which might include an online form. Whether you use this form or write from scratch, the important things to include are:
the DA number and the DA site address (you’ll find these on the Council notification and site notice), then (assuming this is what you are doing) ‘- objection.’
Explain the relationship between your house/apartment and the DA site. For example, ‘I live at no. 2 Smith Street, which is to the immediate south of the DA site.’
Briefly explain those aspects of your property that will help to explain your concerns, eg ‘we have our principal living spaces at the rear of our house, facing the DA site…’ Go into as much detail as is relevant to the concerns you have. If you have a floor plan, or even a hand drawn sketch, that can help. Photographs can be very helpful too.
Now explain your concerns. It’s a good idea to list these in dot point first, then detail your concerns under separate headings below. Make sure you set out your major concerns first, before moving on to more general concerns and only include things that really concern you. Keep it as short and to the point as possible.
It’s helpful to include your contact details in case council needs to access your property to understand your concerns. Note: make sure to read and be comfortable with your council’s privacy policies concerning submissions and how visible these will be to the applicant and other members of the community.
While content is more important than presentation, do make sure your submission reads easily, eg your sentences aren’t too long, you have paragraph breaks etc. Typed is definitely preferable to handwritten. Council officers have to read hundreds of DA objections - the ones that tend to get remembered are the ones that are easiest to read.
Important points
Keep your DA objection/submission objective and avoid emotive statements. It’s a good idea to write your DA objection, sit on it for a day, then read it again before hitting ‘send’. While you are re-reading, also whittle out every word and statement that simply adds ‘bulk’ without serving any purpose.
Focus on what concerns you. Your concerns might be overshadowing, or the impact of a new development on the streetscape, or the demolition of a heritage item – these are all fine to include as long as it’s you that’s worried about them. But don’t veer off to discuss things that affect other people (eg, my friend John Smith’s house is going to be completely overshadowed…).
You don’t have to read the planning controls, but it will usually help you if you understand what they anticipate and require – and therefore, what you might reasonably expect in terms of how they protect your residential amenity. It can help to refer to these controls when explaining what your concerns are.
But! if you don’t understand the planning controls or don’t have time to read them – don’t worry! It’s the Council officer’s job to do this. If you say ‘I am really worried I am going to lose the sunlight to my rear garden’ the officer will look at the performance of the development against the DCP‘s solar access control with your concern/objection in mind.
Be realistic. If you live in a zone that permits residential flats then residential flat development is likely to be approved in some shape or form, and with that will come impacts that are different to what you’d expect with a neighbourhood of single dwelling houses; more traffic and parking impacts and so on. If you’ve moved into an apartment in a shopping centre there’s going to be noise from the sorts of activities that normally go on in shopping centres. So as far as possible, concentrate of the particular aspects of the design, siting or operation of the proposed development that give rise to your concern; for example the placement of windows, balconies, etc and whether enough has been done to ameliorate privacy impact, and whether the hours of operation of a proposed cafe are reasonable.
Be constructive. If you can see a solution to your problem suggest it: eg “Proposed window 12 will look straight into my living room – I request this window be made high level, or screened.”
Be polite and reasonable. A DA objection is not the place to criticize a council for accepting a DA (if it’s properly submitted, the council is obliged to accept it), a council officer’s performance or your neighbour’s (or a developer’s) past or present behaviour.
Think twice before including…
Avoid material that adds little or no weight but simply makes for a longer, harder read. There are few absolutes, but things we’d avoid:
Loss of property value. In most residential DAs it will not be treated as a valid environmental planning ground.
Construction impacts. Everyone’s nightmare, but a proposed development is unlikely to be refused simply because it’s going to be noisy, dusty etc. Development consents usually include conditions over construction impacts. It’s sufficient to note you’re concerned, and to support the need for an appropriate condition.
Quoting large chunks of the LEP and/or DCP – you can assume that the assessment officer at council will know these provisions. It’s their job to check the proposed development against them.
Personal criticisms or worse, slanderous comments, whether in respect of the applicant/developer, the council staff or any neighbour. It will be treated as irrelevant, at best.
‘Shouty’ writing is off-putting. So unless strictly for formatting purposes, no CAPS, no underlining, and no inappropriate use of !!!!!??? etc.
Multiple, repetitive submissions where you have simply added or amended text/material in the original submission – it makes the assessment officer’s job very hard to simply keep abreast of what it is you are trying to say. Ideally, make one submission including everything you want to raise and all supporting information (photos, diagrams etc) attached. If you really feel you need to raise something new later on, put in a letter referencing your original submission and then explaining your new points. Alternatively, send in the letter incorporating the changes highlighted or tracked so the officer can easily pick out what’s different. Remember – you want the council assessment officer to spend their time concentrating on your concerns, not on administering a mound of paperwork!
Finding the information
You will be able to inspect the DA plans and supporting documentation at your council’s offices. Most councils also have good DA tracking systems which allow you to look at the documents online: either look for ‘DA Tracker’ on the council’s website or shortcut this by entering a google search “[Your council’s name] DA tracking.’” If you have already received a notification letter this will tell you more on how to access relevant information, as well as the details of the assessment officer who has responsibility for the application and the hours during which they are available to answer queries.
It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the survey drawing and the architectural plans first.
The survey is a drawing prepared by a registered surveyor and shows the details of the site and adjoining properties ‘as is.’ It should usually include details of:
Site area and dimensions;
Site improvements - the position of existing buildings, fences etc as well as RLs for building elements such as floor levels, eaves and roof ridgelines.
RLs (reduced levels) over both the topography of the site and buildings on it;
The location and indicative canopy spread of trees (NB an arborists report, if submitted, will generally provide greater detail over things like tree height and canopy spread);
Details of buildings surrounding the site, including their position and (ideally) the location and sill and top heights of windows and other openings.
The architectural plans will include, at the least:
Floor plans for each level of the new building (or alterations/extensions).
Sections, which are essentially ‘slices’ through the building. The section lines (ie the place where the ‘slice’ is made) should be marked on the floor plans.
Elevations, which are the external ‘sides’ of the proposed new building or work. Pay close attention, obviously, to the elevation/s that is/are facing you, and to how the levels (RLs) of the building and elements within it (windows etc) relate to the levels and features (windows etc) of your own property. The levels of your property might be found either on the architectural plans, or the survey plan.
A site plan, which shows how the DA site/property relates to its neighbours. Site plans are notoriously variable in terms of quality of information displayed. It is often better to check the Survey plan, prepared by a registered surveyor.
Once you have an understanding of the plans, read the statement of environmental effects (‘SEE’). These, again, vary a great deal in terms of quality, however this document should, at the least, explain:
What planning controls apply,
The performance of the proposed development against those controls, including whether any controls are proposed to be varied,
Key issues and environmental impacts. These might include privacy, overshadowing, view loss, visual bulk, streetscape, heritage, tree loss…the list of potential impacts while not endless, is certainly very long.
Bear in mind this is the applicant’s statement. Council’s assessment officers will make their own assessment of compliance, impacts etc. and may take a different view to the applicant. The SEE, however, is useful in that it most likely (although not always) flags what environmental impacts the development raises and what properties are likely affected. Armed with this knowledge as well as your own review of the architectural plans you can now explore other supporting documents which deal with the particular impact you are concerned with. Supporting documents commonly of interest in residential DAs include:
Overshadowing diagrams - usually found in the package of architectural plans. Learn about shadow diagrams here.
View impact analysis - view impact diagrams might be included in the architectural plan package. Alternatively, there might be a separate report by an expert in this field. Learn about view impact analysis here.
Traffic and parking - this is usually the subject of a report by a traffic engineer.
Tree impacts - often the subject of an arboriculture report which will identify which trees need to be removed, protected etc.
Stormwater management - this will usually be in a separate set of engineering drawings. If flooding is an issue, there will also be a separate report by an expert in this field.
Geotechnical report - this provides data on what ground conditions underlie the DA site. This is usually a requirement for large DAs, ones where significant excavation is involved and/or where there is risk of ground movement/slip.
Heritage report - required where development affects or is in the vicinity of heritage items listed under the council’s LEP and potentially for development within conservation areas.
Acoustic reports - required for noise generating developments such as child care centres, shopping centres etc. Be warned, these reports are invariably very hard to read!
You don’t understand the DA documentation?
The EPA Act and EPA Regulation 2021 set out a variety of requirements for documentation of DAs. The NSW Government fact sheet on what needs to be included can be found here www.planning.nsw.gov.au/sites/default/files/2023-02/application-requirements.pdf
A council can reject a DA if it is not made in the proper form (bear in mind if the DA is made in the proper form, the council is obliged to deal with it!) This however needs to occur within 14 days of lodgement which will be before any neighbour notification period will have concluded.
If you do not understand the impact on your property from the DA documentation, options available to you therefore include:
Explain the difficulty in your submission on the DA, and - if it’s a case of the documents being illegible, poorly presented or in some other way deficient ask if clearer documents can be requested from the applicant.
Explain your concerns based on your understanding of what the plans present – or simply state ‘I’m very worried about ‘X’ and the plans are unclear as to how I’m affected’. Flagging a concern will better ensure the issue will be looked at by the council’s assessment officer, who will bring their own professional knowledge and experience to that task.
Obtain professional town planning assistance – this might be in simply helping you understand the plans/DA documents etc or in preparing a submission to the council on your behalf.
You need more time?
If you need more time to prepare your submission then ring, or send an email to the assessment officer and ask for an extension. In the majority of cases, DA reports are not written immediately after the close of the neighbour notification period and providing the request is reasonable (say, one or two weeks) in most cases an extension will be possible - but make sure to ask first and get something in writing to confirm an extension will be granted.
You can, of course, send in a preliminary submission with a dot point list of the issues that concern you with the DA, indicating that you will provide further details when you have had more time to complete your review of the documentation. Generally though, it is better to have a single, well drafted and considered DA submission than two (or more) submissions from the same person, so perhaps use this route if you have difficulty contacting the assessment officer or in obtaining confirmation that an extension will be granted.
What if I don’t have a problem with the DA?
You do not, obviously, have to make an objection to a development application just because you’ve been notified. Your neighbour will obviously appreciate it if you don’t object to their DA or offer a letter of support. Keeping neighbourly relations congenial is a benefit all round.
If you’re generally ok with what is proposed but would like to have a couple of things changed - a window relocated or screened, or a proposed large tree on the landscape plan relocated to avoid impacting your view, it’s a good idea to raise this with your neighbour first (preferably in discussions before the DA is submitted). If you can both agree on changes and the plans are amended then your submission to council need only say ‘we’ve agreed that this change should be made and I support the DA subject to this amendment being incorporated in any approved plans.’
Do bear in mind, however, that an agreement between you and your neighbour or a developer is not the end of the matter. The assessment officer will still need to be satisfied the amendment is reasonable. For example, they may not allow a proposed building to be moved 5 metres west to allow more of your ‘view’ to be protected if that means the relocated building would then impact on the setting of a heritage building or create new view loss for other neighbours!
There are other circumstances where a ‘submission’ as opposed to a ‘DA objection’ may serve to protect your interests. Say your neighbour is proposing a new deck which gives rise to some overlooking of your own deck, without proposing any privacy treatment. You don’t really mind the overlooking but you do want to keep your view to the ocean across the new open deck, so you don’t put in any submission/objection. The council assessment officer, however, considers the proposed deck needs privacy screening in accordance with Council’s DCP, and a condition is imposed, requiring a screen which is then right in the middle of your view. So …
If there are aspects of the proposed development that you like and support (whether or not as a result of discussions with your neighbour/the developer) or trade-offs you are aware of that you are prepared to accept for some off-setting benefit, then it’s a good idea to record this in a submission to council, so that the assessment officer is aware firstly of your interest in the DA generally, and secondly, of your opinion in respect of particular aspects of the DA.
What about ‘form letters’ and petitions?
It is entirely up to you if you want to sign a form letter or petition, however a name on a petition (or form letter) will not convey your concerns with the same weight as an individual DA objection or submission.
It’s quite common for objectors to submit a form letter which they have amended to include their specific concerns. This is quite ok, but if you do so it is a very good idea to use tracking or to highlight the section that you are adding to or amending so that the assessment officer can clearly see that there is a unique submission embedded. Just as a form letter is a convenience for the submitter, it is also a convenience for an assessment officer who may simply skim them and add up how many have been submitted without going through with a fine tooth comb to check if subtle changes have been made by individual submitters.
Privacy concerns
Be aware that your submission may be accessible to others, including the applicant. Find out how your council deals with privacy aspects of submissions by checking this out on the council website.