Local councils to win new powers to reject development applications

The NSW Department of Planning and Environment has released draft regulations that will make it easier for local councils to ‘reject’ development applications before they are assessed on their merits.

The changes are set out in a draft Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (ePlanning) Regulation 2017.  It has been released for public comment.

The Department says that the regulation changes will ‘support online lodgement of development applications by introducing consistent documents and technical requirements across NSW’.

However, for reasons explained below, developers of complex projects are unlikely to want to use the new online lodgement process (as currently proposed).

The regulation does much more than merely pave the way for online lodgement of applications.  It dramatically increases the amount of mandatory information that must be supplied up-front with a development application — even for applications that are merely lodged ‘over-the-counter’ in the traditional way.

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The darker side of urban development

Solar initiatives in built-up areas may be left struggling to see the light of day.

The eco-friendly Australian cities of the future will combine dense housing with savvy, energy-smart design. Or will they? Is there a conflict looming between the twin green goals of urban densification and widespread harvesting of the sun’s rays?

More and more people are installing solar panels and solar hot water systems, growing their own vegies and adapting their houses for passive solar gain. But as they do so, they may find their desire for direct sunlight overshadowed by bigger buildings next door.

Kim Dovey, professor of architecture and urban design at The University of Melbourne, says the right to sunlight is a growing issue.

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Sydney residents say government’s fast-tracking of development ‘fails to address overshadowing’

Helen Persson is devastated after a developer outlined plans  to build a two-storey house next door to her beloved single-level Hunters Hill home of 56 years that will almost completely block out her sunlight.

Under state government fast-track legislation for complying development, which doesn’t specifically guarantee neighbour’s access to natural light, the 83-year-old said she wasn’t even given a decent chance to object.

“It’s terrible,” she said. “It’s going to be so dark and cold in my house all the time. I’m not going to live much longer, maybe only another five years, so it’s going to be very hard here.

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BASIX considers overshadowing

BASIX considers overshadowing from:

• existing permanent buildings, but not outhouses, sheds or temporary structures;

• parts of your proposed building;

• a future building on an adjacent site, if it has an approved DA or CDC; or

• existing vegetation, if it is subject to planning control for removal.

Overshadowing will increase the estimated heating load and reduce the cooling loads to different degrees depending on the level of obstruction and climate zone.

Only specify overshadowing if there is an obstruction directly in front of the centre of the base of the window in plan and elevation. That is, if you were to look out the window, the obstruction would be directly in front and not wholly below or to the side. If there is a large obstruction offset to the side and you want to get the benefit of the obstruction, consider using the Simulation method.

For existing vegetation, overshadowing can be specified if it is directly in front of the window, or where there is a bare tree trunk in front of the window and the canopy is above the plane of the window.

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