Pre-Lodgement Meetings

Pre-lodgement meetings are a great way to get feedback on your proposed development in the early planning stages.

A pre-lodgement meeting is between yourself and Council staff, where you discuss your application and any potential issues with it before you lodge your application.

Booking a Meeting

Why you should book a meeting:

  • It's an opportunity to discuss your proposed development with Council.
  • If any issues arise from the meeting, planners can work with you to resolve them before you submit your application, making the application process more efficient for you.
  • It's free of charge.

The more information you make available (preferably before a meeting), then the greater and more accurate will be the advice you receive in return.

Council recommends that a request for a pre-lodgement meeting be accompanied by specific plans, relevant reports and any other related materials upon which comment is sought. These will need to be submitted at least 5 business days before the proposed meeting.

Where referral to concurrence agencies (SARA) is identified, it is desirable for the applicant to obtain concurrence advice to be included in the pre-lodgement process.

At the meeting, you can expect feedback on your proposal, outlining the development constraints and opportunities for the subject land or property.

Council attendees will include planners and engineers, other specialists as required, and a minute taker.
Your proposal will be discussed in detail and a formal response to issues identified by yourself and Council will be addressed. The meeting will develop and explore possible options and, where possible, provide alternative solutions with the intent of achieving a positive outcome for you and Council.

Every effort will be made by these Council representatives to identify the issues that a subsequent application should address, and advise on the content of information/reporting required to make a well-made application.

The express purpose of pre-lodgement meetings is to deal with matters and issues at an early stage to reduce or negate the need for information requests at the application stage.

Council aims to email the minutes of the meeting to attendees within 10 business days following the meeting.

It may be necessary to have more than one meeting in order to reach a position where all matters have been identified and resolved. This will not always become apparent until the first meeting. Council encourages ongoing dialogue until all parties have a common agreement of the issues.

For simple enquiries such as identifying the zoning for a specific land parcel, or the height limit for development in your area, contact us.