
Solar farms and battery storage (BESS) developments are rapidly expanding across rural NSW. This guide explains how these projects are approved, key planning constraints, and the role of a town planner in the process.
Expert quality SoEE reports for development Applications
Objection letters on behalf of neighbours for Council Development applications
Part V approvals for educational establishments (schools, TAFE and University)
Town Planning Collective is a boutique town planning consultancy that was formed with the goal of providing expert town planning and heritage reports for the every day client.
With more than 15 years of experience in town planning and heritage consulting, we provide expert reports and advice for all developments within NSW and Queensland. Our experience and knowledge allows us to think outside the box to gain approvals where other firms fail. We offer a tailored approach to our services and can assist you with your development application in what ever suits your requirements. With a strong working knowledge of legislation, development and Council processes we are confident our reports will add value to your development and gain approval faster.
Experienced consultant town planners can help with your development
Bringing an experienced town planner onboard can help you save money by avoiding unnecessary additional information requests or additional reports.
Engaging a town planner to prepare your statement of environmental effect cuts down on the approval timeframe, ensuring all relevant controls and legislations are addressed upfront!
Experienced town planners can project manage the development process. Consulting with relevant consultants to ensure your project is delivered and approved quickly.
Town planners with Council experience are valuable in the development process. Council development officers know the process and understand what needs to be done to gain approval.
Town planners help remove the stress out of a development application approval by avoiding additional information or just handling the whole Council process for you!
We assist our clients in a variety of different ways in both town planning and heritage consulting. Below are an example of our four key areas of services.

The corner stone of any development application! The statement of environmental effects of SoEE is a required document under the EP&A Act and provides an account for what the project entails and if the development complies with the relevant standards and controls.

Lodging development applications is one of our primary tasks for clients. The DA Lodgement is complex and different for every Council so most of our clients engage us to lodge the application on their behalf to their Council.

Neighbour development objection letters are one of our most frequent enquiries. Our principal planning has an extensive experience in objection letters and can assist you with mitigating your concerns regarding the development application.

Heritage impact Statements are required for development applications where you are proposing changes to heritage listed items or buildings within a heritage conservation area. We provide experts services to assist our clients with their heritage advice and reports.
We have extensive experience in town planningfor NSW Councils and can assist you with any of your development application issues.
We pride ourselves in providing competitive and comprehensive quotes that provide expert reports for a competitive price.
We know time is money so we always try to deliver our reports in a fast turn around. We offer service agreements for our regular clients for piece of mind!
Just have a chat with our principal planner and you will see that we do this not just because it is our job, but because it is our passion!

Solar farms and battery storage (BESS) developments are rapidly expanding across rural NSW. This guide explains how these projects are approved, key planning constraints, and the role of a town planner in the process.

Lodged your DA and Council now wants a Heritage Impact Statement? If you’ve missed a heritage report in NSW, acting quickly is critical. We specialise in urgent, council-ready Heritage Impact Statements — often delivered within 48 hours. Here’s how to fix it fast and keep your project moving.

On average our statement of environmental effects and heritage impacts statements are delivered within two weeks of acceptance (or final plans). We pride ourselves on our fast delivery of expert technical reports for development applications. This fast turn around saves our clients time and money to get their DAs approved faster.

A Heritage Impact Statement (HIS) explains how proposed works may affect the heritage significance of a property or area. Learn when you need one and how to prepare an HIS that supports your development application in NSW.

We have been engaged for many development applications for change of use and other developments within the Queen Victoria Building. The site is a state heritage listed property that has a wonderful history. We have provided heritage impact statements for the fit out and change of use for stores within the building as any works within the historic building require development approval from Council.

Heritage impact statements can be expensive. We understand that this report can sometimes be the most expensive report for a development application. We go into detail of what goes into the report and how you can minimise your costs to obtain a HIS.

We have been engaged for many development applications for change of use and other developments within the Tramsheds complex at Forest Lodge. The site is a heritage listed property that has undergone substantial rejuvenation to turn a once dilapidated building into a thriving retail/food destination.

We recently worked on a project within “The Spot”, a heritage conservation area within Randwick Council. The project was for alterations and additions to an existing semi-detached dwelling. We give some information about the project and how we assisted our clients with their development application.

Property developers best friend is knowledge! Make an informed decision on your next property purchase by getting a pre-purchase feasibility report for as little as $400. Determine whether you can subdivide a site, building a duplex or a town house development before making an offer on the site.

Planning a renovation within a heritage conservation area? We talk about the requirements and what you can and can’t do without approval. Find out what is required with any development application and the process with heritage conservation areas and how to obtain approval with our help.

The statement of environmental effects is the most important report for a development application with Council. It is the cornerstone of any good development application and provides details of the development and an assessment of the compliance of the proposal against the relevant legislation and development controls (LEP and DCP). A good statement of environmental effects can make the difference between an approval or a refusal and can streamline the timeframe of the process.

Where a development doesn’t comply with the LEP development standard (such as minimum lot size, height of building and Floor Space Ratio) a variation to the development standard can be sought through the inclusion of a clause 4.6 report. We provide details regarding the report and where a variation might be appropriate.

Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a crime prevention strategy that focuses on the planning, design and structure of cities and neighbourhoods. We discuss the principles of CPTED that are required to be assessed in any Crime Risk Reports for development applications.

Review of Environmental Factors State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 allows schools, TAFE and Universities to obtain approval for developments without requiring Council Development Application approval. We explain the process and what types of development can be achieved without Council approval.

Change of use and fitouts for cafes, shops etc within heritage buildings or conservation areas require Council approval. Find out what is required with any development application to obtain your approval and start operating.
Town Planning Collective is a professional town planning and heritage consulting practice providing expert advice and approval support for development applications across Sydney and New South Wales. We specialise in navigating local planning controls, heritage requirements, and council approval processes for residential and small-scale developments.
Sydney NSW
Greater Sydney
Regional New South Wales
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