Hi everyone,
I’ve got an IP in Marsden, Brisbane which’s a got a bit of land. According to my feasibility study it can be subdivided and put another reasonable size house in the backyard which will make the investment as whole positive cash flow.
Since I am in Melbourne I’ve been told by few people that it is going to be very hard for me to deal with council people, surveyors, architects, etc. etc. to get the council approval from here even if I travel there few times during the approval process. Because of that I am thinking of getting a town planner to organise the council approval and pay their fees.
I just need some advice on this situation. Has anyone been in this kind of situation and what have you done? Is it worth paying a town planner rather than going through the hassle or is it better to do it myself to save some money which can be used to build the house.
By the way the house is in Logan city council and has any one had any good or bad experiences with them when it comes to subdivisions?
Your advice is greatly appreciated.
Cheers!
amaljaya
Hi Amaljaya,To answer your question: Yes, Yes Yes.I live in Cairns and subdivided in Sydney, initially attempted to do it myself, got into difficulties, engaged town planner to sort it all out, processes moved a lot better after using town planner.Good luckGeoffBamaljaya
I am looking at doing a subdivide in logan city as well.
Currently getting valuation and feasability done.
I am thinking of getting town planner involved, which specialise in LCC submission and approvals.
If this is your first one, and don't have time to sort it, I would consider very strongly about going through with it by yourself alone.
The LCC planning scheme, which tells you what you can and can't do, is a very large document. The town planners should know these schemes inside out.
Cheers,
Bundyanimal
Thank you very much for your advise Bundyanimal and GeoffB!
Since this is my very first development also it is happening in a different state this whole development is going to be very challenging task for me.
GeoffB, can you please tell me how many times you had to travel to Sydney during your development process. What stages of the development. Also what type of problems you encountered developing in a different state?
Cheers!
amaljaya
Hi,
Here are some points to please the council.
The proposal must be:
1) In terms of Character – must be of almost same character with the neighborhood.
2) Just look at the required privated open space in the area. Visit this website…. http://www.land.vic.gov.au/
then, go to the right side of the website then click on PROPERTY REPORTS.
3) Input the address of your property. Then just help yourself to click the Residential Schedule and to see if there are overlays on the site.
4) From there, you could see the requirements of the council.
5) Then, there are guidelines for different council… this varies…
6) Take a picture of the side and the structures around it…. this is to see the characters or architectural impact of the surroundings.
7) You must take note that the structures around could have an impact on the proposal. You may need a survey of the property, for the Site Context Sheet that is required by the council.
9) The proposal, if got upper floors, must avoid overlooking issues on neigborhood.
10) The setback of the property could have been somewhat like the setbacks of the neighbors…..
11) The upper floor must have only around 60% to 65% of the ground floor, and the ground floor, including the driveway and porches, must just be around 60% of the lot.
12) The upper floor must not be bulky in appearance in relation to ground floor.These are just few guidelines…. that could help you. If the council did not see anything unpleasant, then, they got no point to reject your proposal. Then, if they got issues, they wil only send you further information, which is so normal… dont be afraid, dont pani if the council did not approve everything the first day you lodge it. Then, it will be advertised on neighborhood, to see if there will be objections… and again, if you got objections, dont worry…. its normal.
However, if everything seems so alien to you, I think, you should ask for a Town Planner or designer. They will organize the surveyors and landscaper… on your behalf…
Good Luck!
Regards,
malquisceHi again,
If there are proposed windows that could have an issue of overlooking, just make it obscure, 1.7M from the floor level. Then, dont forget the easement… dont build on the easements… however, somettimes, garage are allowed….
Good Luck!
amaljaya
We have an IP in Redbank Plains.
After recently having a 5 minute chat to town planner at Ipswich Council with the intension of handling the application process myself, I decided to employ a town planning consultant.
We can't do sub-division on our block, but we can have dual occupancy approval on our 800m2 corner block apparently. It will cost us around $20,000 (about $13,000 of this is for council fee's, levies, impact reports, holding fee's etc). We are flying up to meet the consultant in April to finalise everything as we live in NSW and I don't have the time, knowledge or understanding to do it ourselves.
Martin
Thank you very much for your advise malquisce and Martin(Mystery).
Special thanks to malquisce since you took time to type all that, you are truly a great helper my friend. I appreciate your advice so much.
Cheers!
amaljaya
Mystery wrote:amaljaya
We have an IP in Redbank Plains.
After recently having a 5 minute chat to town planner at Ipswich Council with the intension of handling the application process myself, I decided to employ a town planning consultant.
We can't do sub-division on our block, but we can have dual occupancy approval on our 800m2 corner block apparently. It will cost us around $20,000 (about $13,000 of this is for council fee's, levies, impact reports, holding fee's etc). We are flying up to meet the consultant in April to finalise everything as we live in NSW and I don't have the time, knowledge or understanding to do it ourselves.
Martin
Hey Martin;
where is the photo taken on your picture?
sorry to hijack the thread people but, hey; that's impressive!
I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours!!
L.A Aussie wrote:Mystery wrote:Hey Martin;
where is the photo taken on your picture?
sorry to hijack the thread people but, hey; that's impressive!
I'll tell you about mine if you tell me about yours!!
Thanks Marc
That's where we live. A place called Mystery Bay, … 12km south of Narooma on the far south coast of NSW.
The picture is of the bay which is approx 200mtr from our house. We look at the ocean through the tree's from our lounge and clear views from the front yard.
Only about 150 – 200 homes in Mystery Bay, …. I think they call it a "Hamlet" these day's …. used to be called a village, but no shops, so they changed the name. Narooma is close by with pop of 9,000, so no trouble stocking up on goodies and essentials.
An amazing place to live, … surrounded by National Parks, Ocean and Inlet waters and a mountain and dairy farms as a backdrop. We can walk through national park onto secluded bays for kilometers and quite often not meet another living soul, … very peaceful.
What makes it better Marc is that we bought the block for only $30k in 2001 (1000m2, corner) … lol … worth around $200k these day's for land only.
Martin
You may need a survey of the property, for the Site Context Sheet that is required by the council.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. If you don't have an account, you can register here.
