Town planners · the approval strategist
Find a Planner
A town planner reads the rules for your block and tells you what will get approved, by which pathway, and what Council will push back on. On anything beyond a granny flat they are the first person to call — before an architect draws a line.
Type your suburb or your address.
What they do
Planners interpret the LEP, the DCP, the Housing SEPP and the Low and Mid-Rise policy for your specific lot. They write the Statement of Environmental Effects that goes with a DA, run the pre-lodgement meeting with Council, and manage the application through assessment — or, where it stalls, through the Land and Environment Court.
When you need one
When Block Checker shows a result that turns on a minimum you only just clear, or a constraint like bushfire, heritage or slope. When you want a Torrens subdivision and the council minimum is in the way. When you are thinking of buying a block on the strength of what it can carry — a planner's letter of advice before exchange is the cheapest insurance in property.
How to choose
Choose one who works in your council area every week — the DCP and the assessment officers differ from council to council, and local knowledge is most of the value. Ask what they have had approved on similar lots in the last year, and ask for a fixed fee for the advice letter and a separate one for the DA.
Are you a planner who works here? Apply to represent your suburb — one planner is listed per suburb, chosen on local track record.