TRANPLAN Sydney Town Planner | SoEE Report

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The Statement of Environmental Effects Report (SEE Report or SoEE Report) must provide a detailed description of the site and surrounding locality to provide an understanding of development area and demonstrate to the Planning Consent Authority (e.g. Council) that the site is suitable for the proposed development. Relevant matters of considerations include:

• site constraints such as easements, bushfire, contamination, easements, trees, slope, flooding etc. For example, if a site is identified to have geo-technical and ground water issues Council will require the applicant to provide a hydrological and geotechnical report by a qualified engineer where the proposal involves excavation and/or cut-and-fill which will affect the local topography;
• proximity to transport services, shops, community and recreational facilities;
• compatibility with adjoining development (existing and emerging);
• compatibility with visual setting (foreshore, streetscape);
• compatibility with land zoning e.g. the subject site's zoning as well as any nearby different zoning (if applicable);
• size and shape of the property allotment and whether the development comply with relevant minimum lot size for certain developments. For example, some Councils (e.g. Ryde Council) require a lot/property's front boundary to have a minimum 15m wide frontage to qualify for dual occupancy development, while other Councils (e.g. Randwick Council) require a property's total land/lot size to be a minimum 550m2 in area to qualify for attached dual occupancy / duplex development;
• local planning objectives;
• age and condition of buildings 

The SoEE Report must provide a detailed account of the site development history, this is particularly important for development applications (DA) proposing a change of land-use  such as change of use from a legacy industrial use to a residential use. For example: 

• See TRANPLAN Projects for such an example where our Town Planners successfully overturn a Council DA refusal through a Class 1 Appeal with the NSW Land & Environment Court for a dual occupancy (duplex) DA approval.

The SOEE Report need to provide details about:

• present use of the site
• date the present use commenced
• detailed research of Council records, library catalogues, review of historic property files to document previous uses of the site
• all building and development applications relevant to the site e.g. DA approvals and/or refusals
• present uses of adjoining land
• whether the present or any previous use is a potentially contaminating activity (e.g. workshop, service station, land filling, lead paint removal, termite treatment) - see TRANPLAN's discussion on Land Contamination here.
• a statement as to whether or not the owner/developer are aware that the site is contaminated land
• whether there has been any testing or assessment of the site for land contamination.

The SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed development and how the development application complies with all building, environmental and planning legislations and the relevant statutory core development standards, such as land use (zoning and permissibility), site area and lot size (minimum subdivision requirements), density (floor space ratio), height (wall height and overall building height), heritage conservation, landscaped area etc.

An example of some NSW Environmental Planning Instruments (EPI) / planning legislation that must be thoroughly reviewed and addressed by the SEE Report include (but not limited to) the following:

• SEPP (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021
• SEPP (Exempt and Complying Development Codes)
• SEPP (Housing) 2021
• SEPP (Industry and Employment) 2021
• SEPP (Planning Systems) 2021
• SEPP (Precincts—Central River City) 2021
• SEPP (Primary Production) 2021
• SEPP (Resilience and Hazards) 2021
• SEPP (Resources and Energy) 2021
• SEPP (Sustainable Buildings) 2022
• SEPP (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 
• the relevant Council LGA's Local Environmental Plan (LEP) e.g. if the DA property is located within Inner West Council LGA - the applicable LEP is Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022

The Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed development and how the development application (DA) satisfies all other non-statutory design guidelines and planning controls. Relevant considerations include (but not limited to) the following:

• streetscape
• topography
• setbacks
• building envelope
• private open space
• deep soil zone
• local context and building character, including massing, roof design, verandas, balconies, windows, materials and decorative detailing. 

For example, if the DA property is located within City of Parramatta Council LGA - the applicable non-statutory planning controls that must be thoroughly reviewed and addressed by the SEE Report is the Parramatta Development Control Plan 2023 (PDCP 2023), which may include some or all of the following PDCP 2023 Chapters:

• PDCP 2023 - Part 2: Design in Context
• PDCP 2023 - Part 3: Residential Development
• PDCP 2023 - Part 4: Non-Residential Development
• PDCP 2023 - Part 5: Environmental Management
• PDCP 2023 - Part 6: Traffic and Transport
• PDCP 2023 - Part 7: Heritage and Archaeology
• PDCP 2023 - Part 8: Centres, Precincts, Special Character Areas, and Specific Sites
• PDCP 2023 - Part 9: Parramatta City Centre
• PDCP 2023 - Part 10: Late Night Trading
• PDCP 2023 - Part 12: Appendices 

In addition, the following City of Parramatta Council's Technical Guidelines may apply to certain development applications:

• City of Parramatta Design Excellence Manual
• City of Parramatta Public Domain Guidelines
• City of Parramatta Floodplain Risk Management Policy (2014) – if the DA site is within a flood-affected property.

If the DA site relates to a Heritage Item (or is deemed to be in the vicinity of a Heritage Item), moving or excavating an Aboriginal relic or object, or is located within a heritage conservation area, the Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of the proposed development against the relevant EPI's heritage conservation development standard (usually Clause 5.10 and Schedule 5 of the relevant Council LEP).

For example, if the DA property is located within City of Canada Bay Council LGA - the applicable LEP is Canada Bay Local Environmental Plan 2013 - and the applicable supporting planning controls that must be thoroughly reviewed and addressed by the SoEE Report is the City of Canada Bay Development Control Plan (CBDCP) relevant to the proposed development (for the purpose of this example, say for a dual occupancy) and Heritage Chapters (for the purpose of this example, the site is Heritage-listed Item and also located within a Heritage Conservation Area):

• City of Canada Bay DCP - Part B General Control 
• City of Canada Bay DCP - Part C Heritage 
• City of Canada Bay DCP - Part D Character Areas 
• City of Canada Bay DCP - Part E Single Dwellings, Semi-Detached Dwellings, Dual Occupancies and Secondary Dwellings 
• PDCP 2023 - Appendix 1 Conservation Areas 

If the DA relates to new buildings, alterations and additions (renovations) that involve changes to stormwater drainage or additional roof area, the Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the proposed development's drainage on the site against the relevant EPI's stormwater development standard (usually Clause 6.3 of the relevant Council LEP), and flood development standard (usually Clause 5.21 of the relevant Council LEP).

For example, if the DA property is located within Inner West Council LGA - the applicable LEP is Inner West Local Environmental Plan 2022. Matters that Council will consider includes:

1. Mitigation measures: measures to maximise infiltration and minimise water runoff e.g. porous pavements, mulching and ground covers, low water demand native plants, rainwater tanks for garden watering.
2. Stormwater drainage: proposed management controls for flows entering within and leaving the site, proposed on-site detention (OSD) calculations prepared by a qualified civil engineer, justification that the proposed design measures will not increase stormwater runoff or adversely affect flooding on other land.
3. Easements: provide copies of letters of intention to grant inter-allotment drainage easements across downstream properties.
4. Flood: Local flood mitigation measures.

Bushfire

For developments in “bush fire prone land” (BFPL), the Town Planner's SEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the proposed development against relevant bush fire requirements so that the Council can be satisfied that all statutory bushfire planning controls have been met, prior to Council approval. The relevant bush fire legislations that are required to be addressed include:

• the Rural Fires Act 1997, 
• Australian Standard 3959:2018 (Construction of Buildings in Bushfire-Prone Areas), Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019 (PBP), and 
• the National Construction Code (NCC) 2022

Matters for consideration include the Bushfire Attack Levels (BAL),  core “bushfire protection measures” (BPMs),  Asset Protection Zones (APZ),  whether the DA relates to some “special fire protection purpose”(SFPP) developments under Section 100B(6) of the RF Act 1997 such as Class 9a hospitals, Class 9b schools and child care centres and Class 9c residential care buildings (age care, seniors housing). 

If the above brief summary about bushfire planning and building requirements is a bit too much information to process – and all the various acronyms such as RFS, NCC, BFPL, PBP, BPM, APZ, SFPP, BAL are leaving you a bit light-headed and feeling like you need a cup of strong coffee (or five) – feel free to contact our specialist Town Planning consultant for expert guidance for any bushfire issues with your DA. 

Why not let our Town Planner do all the hard work for you, and research all the planning laws and cross-reference with bushfire legislation clauses. We can assist with preparing all the relevant Bush Fire Reports (e.g. Bushfire Analysis Statement / Bushfire Protection Assessment Report / Bushfire Hazard Assessment Report / Bush Fire Assessment Report), provide DA project management and navigate the Council approval process on your behalf.

Contamination & Remediation

For developments in contaminated or potentially-contaminated land, the Town Planner's SEE / SOEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment of all aspects of the proposed development against relevant contamination/remediation requirements – e.g. Preliminary Site Investigation (PSI), Detailed Site Investigation (DSI), Remedial Action Plan (RAP) – so that the Council can be satisfied that all statutory contamination planning controls have been met, prior to Council approval. The relevant contamination legislations that are required to be addressed include:

• the Contaminated Land Management Act 1997, 
• Section 9.1 of the      Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Ministerial Direction 4.4 – Remediation of Contaminated      Land), and 
• Chapter 4 of the Resilience and Hazards SEPP 2021      (formerly SEPP 55)

Matters for consideration include the current zoning and permissible uses, records from previous re-zonings / uses (see here for a list of likely contaminated uses/activities), past DAs and building applications, historical property files etc., whether the remediation work is Designated Development or State Significant Development, and whether the work is on a site declared by the NSW EPA to be significantly contaminated land (Section 11 of CLM Act 1997). The Integrated Development provisions of the EP&A Act 1979 may also apply.

Note: Category 1 remediation work is remediation work that requires development consent and Category 2 is remediation work that does not. 

If the above brief overview about contamination is a bit too much information to process, feel free to contact our specialist Town Planner for guidance on your DA. Let our Town Planning consultant do all the hard work for you and trawl through library catalogues, Council and Government historical records, review NSW EPA notices, research historical aerial imageries, examine all the planning laws and cross-reference with contamination legislation clauses to manage your project and negotiate the Council approval process on your behalf.