Page 2 – Blog – Advantage Planning

09Apr 2021 by admin

Planning and Design Code

After nearly 30 years the Development Act 1993 and the Development Plans for the respective Councils and areas outside Councils have been superseded. The new Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 and the Planning and Design Code - 25 March-Version 2021.21 (Design Code) came into effect on the 19 march 2021. The new Act and Design Code has been operating in rural areas for over six months but now it applies for the whole Metropolitan Area. From the 19 March the whole State of South Australia will be effectively controlled by the new Act and Design Code. My initial reaction was not that the new legislation was so different but certainly the Design Code was completely different and a lot to absorb (some 8000 pages of new code) while giving…

07Jan 2021 by admin

Representations

Advantage Planning.

When a Development Application (DA) is lodge with a Council before processing commences it is necessary to establish what category of development it is i.e. Category 2, Category 3 and/or a non-complying development. When this is established then the Development Act and Regulations outline the extent of public notification that is required;- Generally a Category 2 DA requires notification of adjoining properties and probably properties directly on the opposite side of the street A Category 3 and non-complying DAs requires more extensive notification including publication in a widely circulated publication (newspaper). The purpose of the notification is to encourage people to comment on the proposed development. The comments should be limited to the proposed development and what impacts the proposal may have on neighbouring properties or the locality generally. As…

14Oct 2020 by admin

COVID and Home Activities

Advantage Planning.

The COVID virus has had a huge impact on the world and will no doubt have very far ranging and long lasting impacts on the world economy, society and the environment. One apparent impact has been greater isolation and a big increase in people working from home and staying at home for longer periods of time. Mostly this has been done on an informal basis but equally it can be formalised. The Development Regulations 2008 have restated that home activity requirements means use of a site by a person resident on the site:- Assistance by more than 1 person who is not resident in the dwelling Use (whether temporarily or permanently) of a floor area exceeding 30 square metres The imposition of the services provided by the public utility organisation…

10Aug 2020 by admin

Land Uses and Off-street car parking

Advantage Planning.

When there is a change of land use or a new development there are requirements set out in the Council Development Plans for the provision of off street on the respective sites. The exception to this might be where a site is located within the centre of a city, and like the very centre of Adelaide CBD, on site car parking is actually prohibited. With reference to the Australian & New Zealand Standards 2890.1:2004 – Parking Facilities Off-street car parking the uniform standards that apply to the size, angle, aisle width etc. are very clear. Yet the number of car parking spaces that apply to certain land uses can vary greatly between various Councils. As an example recently I was involved a change of land use from office to consulting…

07Jul 2020 by admin

Planning approval for gymnasium

Advantage Planning.

As Director of Advantage Planning Services, I often get involved in obtaining planning approvals for Gymnasiums. Or are they Gyms? Gymnasiums are by definition a building equipped with facilities for gymnastics and sport. Such places are often associated with schools or sports clubs but a lot are smaller scale, private facilities focused on offering a more exclusive training experience or even ‘one-on-one’ training sessions. I consider a fitness centre to be where restricted membership, rather than hundreds of members or belonging to a club or school, creates a more exclusive experience. These fitness centres are generally more intense offering a more specific work out experience in smaller groups and are known to enhance their member's fitness goals quicker. Because the classes are small and the duration generally intense and limited…

16Dec 2019 by admin

WHAT ARE THE MAIN DIFFERECNES BETWEEN TORRENS TITLE, STRATA TITLE OR COMMUNITY TITLES IN SOUTH AUSTRALIA?

Advantage Planning.

Each parcel of land in South Australia is issued with a certificate of title of which there are three main types. Torrens Title this is the most common type of title by far and gives the owner the greatest ownership rights. The owner can demolish, extend, repaint and improve the property as they wish within the planning and building controls that apply across the State expressed in the respective Council’s Development Plan and the state wide Building Code. The owner is fully responsible for the allotment area the buildings on the lot and associated driveways, paths and services such a water and sewerage. The exception is boundary fences which are shared with neighbours and different controls apply to these covered by the Fences Act. Strata Titles were used in situations…

01Nov 2019 by admin

Expert Witness ERD Court

Advantage Planning.

Preparing Statements of Evidence as an Expert Witness for the Environment, Resources and Development Court (ERDC). I am always pleased to be asked by an Appellant, Respondent or their solicitors to give an opinion regarding an Appeal going to trial in the ERDC. Each case is different and presents a new set of challenges. If you form the view you can support the position of the Appellant or Respondent as an expert witness your client needs to instruct you to proceed with preparing a detail Statement of Evidence. Preparing the Statement requires absorbing a large amount of information supplied to you by the client and also the Book of Documents filed with the ERDC and made available to both sides. It is then a matter of cross referencing all this…

22Jul 2019 by admin

Pompeii and Urbanism

Council Approvals Adelaide

A violent earthquake in 63 AD devastated the area near Naples in Italy and reportedly was a warning of the eventual devastating eruption of Mount Vesuvius that occurred in 79 AD. I finally got to visit Pompeii in July 2019 after many years of curiosity and was quite amazed as a Town Planner about the scale of the site and the sophistication of the urban development. The ancient city was thought to have grown from an earlier settlement somewhere around the 6th century BC. Nearly 2000 years ago the volcanic eruption buried Pompeii in ash and preserved the day to day life in time. Although organic matter had decayed in the intervening period the space left was able to be filled by the archaeologist to leave a cast of what…

07Feb 2019 by admin

Airbnb

Council Approvals Adelaide

The searching, booking and payment for accommodation can now all be done over the internet usually for short term stays. Airbnb accommodation is now all over the world over 5 million listings. Like a lot of the technological changes that spread quickly around the world often the legal system, planning laws, local government and their Development Plans lag behind. (more…)

04Dec 2018 by admin

Technology and Signage

Council Approvals Adelaide

Technology is impacting our lives and the environment in many ways. Increasingly I am getting involved in obtaining planning approval for larger and larger low energy digital (LED) signs. Because technology has made such signs relatively cheap, thinner, lighter and more economical to operate larger signs are being proposed in all sorts of new locations. (more…)