For complex development projects, some of the most valuable planning conversations can happen well before a Development Application is lodged.

A Pre-Development Application (Pre-DA) consultation provides an opportunity to engage with Council while a proposal is still taking shape – helping the project team understand potential planning issues, test its approach and identify matters that may need to be resolved before significant time and money are invested in developing the design.

At CKDS, we recommend Pre-DA consultation for many of our more complex projects. The key is getting the timing right.

When is the right time for a Pre-DA?

A Pre-DA shouldn’t happen so early that there isn’t enough information for Council to meaningfully understand the proposal. Equally, there is little value in progressing a design to an advanced stage before understanding Council’s position on its fundamental planning and design principles.

Before approaching Council, CKDS will generally seek to resolve the project’s fundamental massing and planning approach and develop a good understanding of the key site issues.

The design should be developed enough to clearly communicate the proposal, but not so far that responding to feedback becomes difficult or unnecessarily expensive.

A typical Pre-DA package may include site analysis, preliminary plans and elevations, massing studies, indicative yield, setbacks, 3D imagery and relevant precedent images.

At this stage, the consultant team can often remain relatively lean. Depending on the project, this might initially involve the architect and planner, with specialist consultants brought in where specific issues such as heritage, flooding or traffic need to be understood.

Resolving the right issues early

One of the greatest benefits of Pre-DA consultation is the opportunity to focus the conversation on the issues that could materially affect the project.

Rather than approaching the meeting with an exhaustive list, CKDS will generally identify several key matters where Council’s input will be most valuable.

Depending on the site and proposal, these could include height, Floor Space Ratio (FSR), setbacks and building envelope; bulk and scale; flooding; heritage; access and parking; landscaping and tree retention; residential amenity; or the relationship between the proposed use and the site’s planning controls.

The objective is to identify whether there are fundamental planning or approval issues, including potential ‘showstoppers’ while there is still time to respond.

What can that look like in practice?

On a recent six-townhouse development involving the retention of a heritage cottage, the Pre-DA process allowed the project team to engage with Council early and better understand the appropriate relationship between the proposed development and the existing heritage building.

On another proposed development comprising 25 industrial units, flooding represented a significant site constraint. Early discussions with Council helped the team understand expectations around floor levels, fill and flood storage before progressing the design.

Similarly, on Eclipse, a development of approximately 110 apartments, flood storage was identified very early as a significant issue.

It wasn’t ultimately a deal breaker but it could have become one if the constraint had not been understood early. By identifying and working through the issue, the project team was able to respond while maintaining the development yield and overall design outcome.

These examples demonstrate the real value of early consultation: not necessarily eliminating constraints but understanding them while there is still flexibility to respond.

Pre-DA feedback isn’t an approval

One of the important misconceptions around the Pre-DA process is that positive preliminary feedback equates to approval. It doesn’t. A Pre-DA does not remove all planning risk, and issues may evolve as a proposal is investigated in greater detail.

What the process can provide is valuable preliminary insight into how Council may view the proposal. It can highlight matters requiring further investigation and give the client and project team a clearer pathway for developing the subsequent DA.

Council feedback also doesn’t necessarily mean a design must simply be changed.

There may be occasions where adjusting the proposal is the appropriate response. In others, it may be worthwhile testing a particular position more closely to understand the underlying concern and whether an alternative design or planning response is possible. Greater clarity before greater investment

CKDS regularly undertakes Pre-DA consultation for projects across Newcastle and the Central Coast, as well as with other councils where appropriate.

While every site and approval pathway is different, the underlying principle remains the same: resolve the right things at the right time.

Investing heavily in a design before understanding the planning authority’s position on a fundamental site or development issue can introduce unnecessary risk and rework.

Early consultation can instead give clients and project teams greater understanding of the issues ahead and a stronger foundation from which to progress the design.

Considering a development opportunity? Talk to CKDS about how early architectural and planning input can help establish a clearer pathway towards DA.