Development advice and enquiries

Book an appointment Development assessment panel Private consultants

Planning and building processes are complex. This page will help you find the right advice and information for your development.

You may wish to engage the services of a professional consultant or read more about buying and selling property.

Call us or make an appointment - help with lodging a DA

We recommend contacting us to discuss your plans before lodging a DA.

Our officers can explain Council's development and building process to you, including required documentation, forms and fees.

This advice is generally for smaller-scale residential, commercial and industrial developments (such as building a new home, making renovations or remodelling a shop or café).

The more information you provide (such as plans and photos), the better we can assist you.

Talk to Council's team to find out about:

• assessing development applications
• strata certificate applications
• searches for dwelling house entitlements and past development consents
• processing certificates (such as Section 10.7)
• monitoring compliance with development consent conditions.

Appointments are not intended to:

• provide a detailed assessment of the development proposal
• indicate the likely outcome of the assessment process
• provide a detailed compliance audit of the development proposal against applicable planning scheme codes or other Council policy instruments
• speculate on Council’s view on specific issues should such issues be raised subsequently in public submissions
• provide feedback on development applications other than those for which the meeting was requested.

This service is offered between 9 am – 12 noon on weekdays (NSW times). If these times are not suitable to you, our duty officers can assist you via the phone between 9 am – 4 pm daily.

Select one of the 2 options below to book a free 30-minute appointment with one of our officers to discuss your plans for a DA:

Development assessment panel

Pre lodgement enquiries for larger, more complex developments

For larger, more complex developments we strongly recommend using Council’s Development Assessment Panel. This service provides more detailed technical advice before you lodge your Development Application.

Our panel of planning, building, engineering and environmental officers will advise whether your proposal is generally permissible, and will identify key town planning, building or engineering issues you need to address.

See Development assessment panel fact sheet(PDF, 521KB)

In addition to the Basic and Complex DAP meetings, Council also has the option of 'targeted advice and problem solving of specific technical questions' for a fee as per the Fees and Charges. This service is typically used for simpler proposals where the advice of a single unit is sought, there are no other issues, and a meeting is not warranted - i.e. the matter can be more efficiently dealt with by a letter. Risk-adverse applicants who may be seeking written advice from Council for simple low risk proposals prior to preparing a DA can also use this service.

The requests for targeted advice/written advice on simpler proposals are directed to our DAP Chairpersons who advise whether this is the appropriate pathway for pre-lodgement advice. As with the DAP meetings, the plans and documents are typically required two weeks in advice of the written response.

To make an appointment, speak with the Chairperson of the panel by calling 02 6670 2400.

Note: The fee must be paid before you meet with the panel.

Consultants

You may need the services of a private consultant for certification and expert advice, view all the listed consultants below.

You can also filter the list by category - click in the box below and then click search to just see consultants in your selected field:

How to be included in the list of consultants

If you or your company would like to be included, submit your request via the online form.

If you need to change or remove your listing, email the details to digital@tweed.nsw.gov.au.