David Carey

Under the NSW planning system, not only do new buildings generally require approval but the "use" of buildings and their fitout also generally require approv...

Most forms of development in NSW requires some form of consent - usually from the local Council, although increasingly in many instances it can also be obtai...

As I mentioned in my book, the lodgement of Development Applications in NSW has historically been a very paper-based process which has generally involved: - ...

The NSW government announced the creation of a new State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) on 20 December which will come into effect on 1 March 2020. The...

A copy of my book, "Understanding Local Government and Town Planning in NSW" is now available. This book has been prepared as a practical guide to those wish...

Pubs and bars can often be controversial developments. This is particularly where they are proposed surrounding residential areas or where they are associate...

It is often asked how approvals for water and sewer are addressed in NSW and how this considered as part of the DA process. This blog post provides a brief e...

In NSW, our Torrens/Strata Title system of land registration involves the State Government maintaining a centralised register of land holdings. The process c...

In my last post, I looked at the powers of local government in NSW and described how they are generally quite limited compared to many other jurisdictions ar...

Most readers of this blog would probably be aware that local government in NSW is the level of government in Australia with the least level of power and resp...

I find as part of almost all Development Applications that I lodge, Councils are asking for a waste management plan to be prepared. Many Council's have their...

Skin in the game is a book published by Nassim Nicholas Taleb in 2018 which I managed to read over the holiday period. The central premise of the book is tha...

Happy new year to all readers of my blog! There have been a number of stories in the press over the Christmas period regarding a high rise residential tower ...

Designated development has been a feature of the NSW planning system since the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 came into effect. Originally, t...

In a previous post, I discussed the process of constructing a road and dedicating it to Council. There are many similarities between this process and that of...

Child care centres are common types of development in NSW. This post describes how these developments are assessed under the planning system. There is now a ...

This post describes the typical process of constructing a new road and dedicating it to Council under the NSW planning system. Most new roads are created as ...

The NSW Planning system is constantly evolving. The Act that is central to the planning system (the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act) was assented t...

How many car parking spaces and what type of spaces to provide is a common question that comes up in designing a development. This blog post explains the fra...

The NSW Government has announced a 107 page amendment to State Environmental Planning Policy (Exempt & Complying Development Codes) 2008. A media release fro...