Development control plans

What is a Development Control Plan?

A Development Control Plan (DCP) provides specific, comprehensive guidelines for certain types of development, or area-specific requirements for localities. 

A DCP is important in the planning system because it provides a flexible means of identifying additional development controls and standards for addressing development issues at a local level.

 

What Development Control Plan Applies?

The Tamworth Regional Development Control Plan 2010 (PDF 8.5MB) contains the key criteria for specific types of development that commonly occur in the Tamworth Regional Local Government Area and for specific locations within the region.

The primary aim of the DCP is to define “deemed to satisfy” standards which will streamline the approval process when these standards are met. 

The DCP does not remove the obligation to assess each development application in accordance with the requirements of the Environmental Planning & Assessment legislation. However, by introducing clear design criteria and allowing for certification by proponents, a determination timeframe of 28 days can be achieved for advertised or notified applications and 10 days for applications that are not advertised or notified for certain types of “fast-track” development.

Applications for other types of development will continue to be assessed on merit, applying best practice planning standards.

 

Fast Track Certification Checklists

The applicable Council Fast Track Certification must be completed to identify how the proposal complies with the relevant development controls. Where a proponent certifies that the minimum standards are met, determination should be issued within 10 days. 

The Fast Track process is a simpler, faster approval pathway. The process streamlines the assessment of common forms of development that can be clearly quantified as achieving the outcomes sought by the community, the development industry and Council.

The following types of development may be ‘fast tracked’ where the proponent certifies that the development complies with the minimum DCP controls:

✓ Residential (General Housing) including ancillary structures such as pools and car ports 
✓ Residential (Dual Occupancy) 

Fast track determination does not yet apply to:

Applications where consultation is required, subdivisions, commercial and retail, unspecified forms of development, flood affected land, heritage items identified in the local environmental plan, East Tamworth and West Tamworth precincts, bushfire prone land, proposals that are integrated or designated. 

Development applications lodged under the fast track process will need to be accompanied by signed certification checklist. Council has prepared a certification checklist for “fast-track” development.   

The individual checklists are provided below:

Council will accept applications prepared by suitably qualified persons (such as planners, architects, engineer, draftsman and surveyors). Where plans are subsequently found to not meet a standard, the application will be removed from the fast track stream and the person who submitted the fast track application may be de-registered as a fast track submitter on the Online Development Hub.  

This must be submitted in addition to the minimum documentation specified by Schedule 1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 and Council's Documentation Matrix. (PDF 157.9KB)

Fast Track Submitter Online Registration: 

Fast Track applications must be lodged online via the NSW Planning Portal.