Plain answers to common planning questions.

We provide independent, early-stage town planning advice on property in NSW. We assess what a site allows, what constrains it, and whether a proposal is realistic, before you commit to design, approvals or a purchase.

No. BDK Planning is advisory only. We do not prepare Statements of Environmental Effects, lodge DAs, or manage council applications. We assess what is possible and realistic, and set out the pathway worth taking.

Because the most valuable planning advice comes earliest, before any purchase or council application is made. Knowing what a site genuinely allows, before you engage an architect or exchange contracts, is where planning advice changes the outcome.

No. BDK Planning provides town planning advice, not legal advice. For contract, title and conveyancing matters, use a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. Our advice complements theirs.

Across New South Wales, with the deepest focus on Sydney's eastern suburbs. The work is desktop based, so we can assist anywhere in NSW.

A Planning Check is typically delivered within 48 hours. Larger assessments are scoped with a confirmed timeframe at the outset.

Zoning is the land-use category applied to a property under the Local Environmental Plan (for example R2 Low Density Residential). It determines what uses are permitted, permitted with consent, or prohibited.

A Local Environmental Plan is a council's principal legal planning document. It zones land, sets development standards such as height, floor space ratio and minimum lot size, and identifies heritage and environmental constraints.

A Development Control Plan provides the detailed design guidelines beneath the LEP: setbacks, landscaping, privacy, parking and the like. A DCP guides; an LEP controls.

FSR is the ratio of a building's total floor area to the site area. An FSR of 0.5:1 on a 600 square metre site permits 300 square metres of gross floor area. It is one of the main controls on how much you can build.

The maximum building height is set in metres in the LEP, measured from existing ground level. Storey limits, where they apply, usually sit in the DCP.

Whether a particular use or development type is allowed on a site, outright, with consent, or not at all, under the zone and applicable planning instruments. It is the first question we answer.

A section 10.7 certificate is a council document listing the planning instruments and constraints that apply to a property. It lists; it does not interpret. Our advice reads those controls and tells you what they mean for your specific proposal.

Automated reports aggregate zoning and mapping data, which is useful but generic. They do not apply judgement to your proposal or weigh the risks. Our assessment is a planner reading the controls for your specific question.

Zoning and permissibility of your intended use; height, FSR and lot-size controls; heritage listing or conservation area status; flood and bushfire exposure; easements and covenants; and whether any advertised development potential is real. Our Pre-Purchase Due Diligence covers these.

Treat it with caution. Advertised potential is a marketing claim, not an approval or a guarantee, and the agent acts for the vendor. It signals that you should get independent advice, which is what we provide.

We do not make the buying decision for you, but we give you the planning half of it: what the site allows, what it does not, and which risks are material. Combined with your legal and financial advice, that is the basis for a confident decision.

Yes. Many clients commission a Pre-Purchase Due Diligence or a Development Potential assessment on a site they intend to develop, so they buy with the planning position understood.

Yes. The Planning Check is designed for exactly this: a fast, independent planning screen a buyers' agent can commission while assessing a property for a client.

They can materially expand what is permitted. Stage 1 (July 2024) allowed dual occupancies and semi-detached homes in R2 zones statewide. Stage 2 (February 2025) introduced controls within 800 metres, about a 10-minute walk, of many nominated town centres and stations, allowing terraces, townhouses and low-rise apartments in more locations, subject to standards and exclusions. Whether your site benefits depends on its location and characteristics.

A clause 4.6 variation is a request to depart from a development standard in an LEP, such as height or FSR. It applies to LEP development standards, not DCP guidelines, and cannot be used to vary an outright prohibition. We flag where a proposal would depend on one.

No. Our Development Potential assessment is a planning study. It reads yield from the controls and identifies the realistic pathway. It does not model construction costs, revenue or profit, and is designed to sit before a quantity surveyor's or feasibility analyst's numbers.

For most work, just the property address and a sentence on what you are considering. For a plan review or development assessment, any plans, surveys or reports you already hold are helpful.