Advice on land at NORTH ARM COVE  

Council regularly receives enquiries about land zoned 1(a) Rural under Great Lakes Local Environmental Plan 1996 in North Arm Cove, Pindimar, Bundabah, and Carrington localities. Most of these sites have an area of less than 40 hectares and therefore Council is unable to consent to the construction of a dwelling house. As a result Council has prepared a fact sheet for the website to explain why this situation exists.

The Department of Planning produced the Mid-North Coast Regional Strategy in 2009 which also has a North Arm Cove Fact Sheet.

NSW Planning and Infrastructure has placed "Planning for paper subdivisions - draft regulation and guideline" on exhibition from 8 February 2012 until 9 March 2012.  For more information on the exhibition, please visit the Department website.

Also please refer to Great Lakes Council information on the "Planning for paper subdivisions - draft regulation and guideline.

Planning Certificates

Section 149 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment (EP&A) Act 1979, requires that local councils, upon application, must issue a Planning Certificate providing information on the planning controls relating to any piece of land within the Council area.  A person may request a Planning Certificate for many different reasons but generally a Certificate will be requested when a property is to be redeveloped or sold.

While the Planning Certificate will state all the relevant planning instruments that apply to the property, it does not specify development standards except for minimum lot requirements for dwellings.  If a development is being proposed, it will be necessary to research thoroughly all of the development standards of the planning instruments which apply to the land.

Great Lakes Council issues two types of Planning Certificates - a Section 149 (2) or Section 149 (2) & (5) Certificate.

What is the difference?

Section 149 (2) Certificate

A 149 (2) Certificate provides you with mandatory information such as: the zoning of the land; whether there are any Draft Local Environmental Plan (LEP) Amendments; State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPP's); Development Control Plans (DCP's); whether the land is affected by flooding, bush fire prone; whether complying development is permitted or not and any other restrictions etc that may apply to development of the land. This mandatory information is as prescribed in Schedule 4 of the EP& A Act Regulations 2000.

Section 149 (2) & (5) Certificate

A 149 (2) & (5) Certificate provides you with all of the information referred to above and may include additional advice on matters that relate to:  tree preservation orders; exhibited draft DCP's; flood levels; and any other matter that Council considers may be relevant to the development of the particular parcel of land.

Flood levels can also be provided separately by making application for a Flood Level Certificate upon payment of the appropriate fee.

Ordering and Processing Time

The Planning Certificate Application Form can be completed and lodged with Council with the appropriate fee. The turn around time for a non-urgent certificate is approximately five (5) days.

An urgent certificate application can be made by post, over the counter at Breese Parade, Forster OR by telephone (only if providing credit card details) prior to 11am, in order for pick up after 3pm or same day posting. Please note that applications marked as Urgent incur an additional processing fee.  Applications can also be forwarded to the Tea Gardens and Stroud Offices or faxed to the Customer Service Centre on fax no. 02 6591 7363.