Technical Advice Officers can provide preliminary advice on the zone of a property, if a development application (DA) is required for a development proposal, and mandatory requirements for a DA submission.

There are several ways you can request advice from our Technical Advice Team:

• submit an online request
• book a meeting to be held online or at the Customer Service Centre at 4 Little Street, Toowoomba
• phone 131 872.

See contact Council for further information. 

A pre-lodgement meeting is a free meeting between prospective applicants and Council technical staff to discuss a development proposal prior to the formal lodgement of a development application with Council.

See the 'Planning and engineering applications' article for further detail on a pre-lodgement meeting and how to apply.

There are many professionals external to Council who can also assist with advice and making an application. This could include a town planner, surveyor, building designer or builder.

To make a 'properly made application', your development application must satisfy the requirements set out in the Planning Act 2016. Specifically, applications must include –

• The correct application form/s
• Supporting information required by the application form/s
• Written owner’s consent (where required)
• The required application fee as per Council’s Fees and Charges Register.

The following resources are available to help prospective applicants make a properly made application –

• How to submit a properly made development application and referral agency request

Depending on the type of application, written owner’s consent may be required if the application is not submitted by the current registered owner.

The requirements for owners' consent can be found in the Planning Act 2016.

Templates for owner’s consent can be found on the Queensland Government’s website, Development Applicaiton Forms and Templates.

There can be times when an application is required to be lodged to other agencies for assessment or comment. These agencies can include the State Government (State Assessment and Referral Agency), Queensland Fire and Emergency Services, or Ergon Energy. The Planning Regulation 2017 sets out when another agency is required to have input into an application.

Some of these circumstances can include:

• development on or near a state-controlled road or railway line;
• a use that involves an environmentally relevant activity;
• development on or adjoining a Queensland heritage place.

For more information on the State’s role in DA, refer to the State Assessment and Referral Agency (SARA) for more information. 

Schedule 6, PSP 1 of the Planning Scheme sets out requirements for the preparation of development applications made to Toowoomba Regional Council.

Where applicable, the following technical plans and reports may be required to accompany your application to demonstrate compliance with the relevant codes:

1. Acoustic assessment report.
2. Bushfire hazard assessment report and management plan.
3. Ecological assessment.
4. Flood hazard assessment and mitigation report.
5. Traffic impact assessment report.

In instances where technical reports are not provided with the submitted application, Council may require such reports to be supplied as part of an information request.

Prior to making an application, a pre-lodgement meeting with Council may identify any technical reports that may be required as a part of the application process and streamline the development assessment process.

It is a mandatory requirement to provide ‘relevant plans’ that clearly illustrate the proposed development. The Queensland Government’s website, Development Applicaiton Forms and Templates. page has guides to assist applicants with the types of plans required for an application. 

Development applications must be accompanied by the current version of the relevant application form.

Relevant development application forms include:

• DA Form 1
• DA Form 2
• Planning Act Form 5: Change Application

Development application forms can be downloaded from the Queensland Government’s website, Development Applicaiton Forms and Templates

A list of all approved and recommended building forms can be found on the Business Queensland website here.

Aside from the standard forms provided by the State, Council also has forms available under Planning and Building, are required to be submitted for certain requests.

The Planning team review every development application submitted to Council.

For each application, an initial review determines:

• if there are any clear gaps in the information provided
• what expert referrals are necessary
• if referral is required to any state government agencies
• major and minor issues to be considered in the assessment of the application
• who needs to approve the application

The assessment manager must determine, within 10 business days after receiving the application (confirmation period), if the application has included all mandatory requirements.

If the submitted application does not meet the requirements for lodgement, the applicant will be asked to provide more information. Council may issue an action notice to resolve any ‘not properly made’ aspects of the application.

If the application is impact-assessable, Council will send a confirmation notice to the applicant within 10 business days of receiving the application.

For code assessable applications, the assessment manager may only send a confirmation notice if there are external referral agencies, or if the applicant has chosen to not receive an information request.

The assessment manager then begins to assess the application, incorporating comments from other professionals/specialists. 

Sometimes a development application may require referral to another agency. In these cases, the application is considered by a referral agency.

Referral agencies can be Queensland Government departments and authorities. Departments such as Transport and Main Roads and Environment, Science and Innovation that:

• have specific state interests, and
• require assessment to determine the potential impact of the proposal on these interests. 

The Planning Regulation 2017 identifies when an application requires referral (e.g. a state transport corridor). There are three types of referral agencies:

1. Referral agencies assess the proposal and may impose conditions of development. They may also direct Council to approve an application with or without conditions, issue a preliminary approval only or refuse an application.
2. Advice agencies can assess the proposal but can only give advice, such as recommending conditions and/or determination of development.
3. Third party advice agencies - may have an interest in an application (e.g. the Brisbane Airport Corporation has an interest in buildings greater than 100m in height).

Where an application is required to be sent to a referral agency, Council will issue a confirmation notice to the applicant.

Council must receive referral agency requirements or conditions before a decision is made on an application. 

An Information request is a formal way of Council asking the applicant for more information about their application. An information request will only be issued where more information is required to be able to assess the application.

The applicant then has 3 months (or a longer time period if negotiated with Council) to provide a response to the information request. This time period is reduced if a show cause or enforcement notice has been issued for the development.

A referral agency may also issue an information request.

The applicant has a number of options on how to respond to an information request. For more information refer to the DA Rules. 

Public notification is required for certain applications, such as an impact assessable application or a variation scheme. This provides the public with an opportunity to have their say about a development application.

All properly made submissions are considered when Council decides a development application.

Even if an application does not need public notification, the community can still have their say on the proposal, but the right to appeal Council’s decision to the Court is not available to them.

For more information on the public notification process, please read Have your say on development applications. 

Once all of the requested information, referral agency responses and public submissions have been received, Council will assess the development application against the relevant benchmarks and make a decision.

This decision is sent to the applicant in the form of a Decision Notice. A decision notice may approve an application, approve an application subject to a series of conditions, or refuse an application.

Any application lodged and decided after 3 July 2017 will have a Statement of Reasons available. When Council approves or refuses a development application, a Statement of Reasons is required to be published on Development.i outlining Council's reasons for the decision.

After Council has decided a development application, the applicant, or member of the community who has made a properly made submission on the application, may appeal the decision in accordance with the Planning Act 2016.

Appeals on development applications are dealt with through the Queensland Planning and Environment Court. The State Governments Dispute Resolution page, provides useful information on planning and development dispute resolution, including access to the Planning and Environment Court appeals database. The appeals database is an easy way to obtain information about an appeal or to check if an appeal has been lodged for a specific development.