Council guide · NSW
Lithgow City Council
What a house block can carry in Lithgow City Council's area — the dual-occupancy minimums, the granny-flat rule and the C4 controls, read from the Lithgow Local Environmental Plan 2014 on legislation.nsw.gov.au, and whether the state Low and Mid-Rise rules reach here.
Dual occupancy (two homes on one lot)
Cl 4.1A — in R2 1,000 m² for an attached or detached dual occupancy; in R1 the attached minimum follows the Lot Size Map: 400 m² where the map shows 300, 500 m² where it shows 400, 700 m² where it shows 600 (detached 500 / 600 / 800 m²); no LEP frontage minimum (Council's DCP applies); outside the state Low and Mid-Rise area.
Secondary dwelling (granny flat)
Lithgow LEP cl 5.4(9) — the greater of 60 m² or 30% of the house’s total floor area, parking excluded. Under the state Housing SEPP a granny flat of up to 60 m² can also go through the ten-day complying-development route on a lot of 450 m² or more, with a 12 m frontage, where the land is not flood, bushfire or heritage constrained.
C4 Environmental Living
In the C4 Environmental Living zone: a house is permitted; a dual occupancy is permitted; a secondary dwelling is permitted; no semi-detached pairs. The state Low and Mid-Rise rules do not apply in C4.
Low and Mid-Rise
Outside the Six Cities region. The state Low and Mid-Rise rules do not apply in Lithgow City Council's area — the Lithgow Local Environmental Plan 2014 and Council's DCP alone govern what a lot can carry. The state granny-flat and Pattern Book routes still apply where the land is not flood, bushfire or heritage constrained.
Constraints that change the answer
Bushfire-prone land (RFS map), flood-control lots, heritage items and conservation areas, and landslip risk all take a lot out of the fast-track routes and into a full DA. Easements, covenants and sewer mains are not on the public maps — a title search and a Sydney Water or council water check are always needed.
Approval routes
- Complying development (CDC) — a private certifier issues it in days where the design meets every state standard; no neighbour notification.
- Pattern Book — the NSW pre-approved designs, ten-day approval, subject to survey (slope) and the site tests.
- Development application (DA) — lodged with Lithgow City Council through the NSW Planning Portal; weeks to months, neighbours notified, merit assessment against the LEP and DCP.
Useful links: lithgow.nsw.gov.au · NSW Planning Portal (lodge a DA or CDC, spatial viewer) · legislation.nsw.gov.au (search the LEP by name).
Enter the address — lot, frontage, zone, constraints and what it can carry, in about ten seconds.