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 Statement of Environmental Effects (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 Statement of Environmental Effects (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 Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) 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 Statement of Environmental Effects (SoEE) Town Planning 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 

See what must be included in the Statement of Heritage Impact (SoHI), and other Heritage services that our Heritage Consultant will be able to help with for your Heritage-affected property.

If the DA relates to new buildings, alterations and additions (renovations) that involve changes to stormwater drainage or additional roof area, the Town Planner's Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) 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 require the SEE Report to 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 Statement of Environmental Effects / Town Planner's 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 by the SoEE Report 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 Statement of Environmental Effects (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 by the SEE Report 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. 

The following principal impact issues for assessment are generally required by Councils for construction of new buildings and alterations and additions (renovations / extensions), except internal-only alterations. 

Overshadowing

For developments proposing construction of new buildings, or an addition that involves an extra upper level (or extension of an existing upper level), the Town Planner's Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE / SoEE) Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of the proposed Shadow Diagrams prepared by the Designer/ Architect, and consider how the new shadows will impact adjoining / neighbouring buildings as well as the subject development site itself.

The Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment against relevant solar access requirements so that the Council can be satisfied that all statutory sunlight access controls have been met, prior to Council approval. The solar access planning principle that are generally required to be addressed may include the following (as an example):

•  Dwellings within the development site and on adjoining properties are to receive a minimum 3 hours (some Councils require 2 hours while other Councils require 4 hours) of sunlight to primary living areas between 9am and 3pm (some Councils expand this range to be between 8am and 4pm) on 21 June during winter solstice, 
• Private open spaces (e.g. rear yards) within the development site and on adjoining properties are to receive a minimum 3 hours of sunlight to  ≥ 50% of the private open space area between 9am and 3pm on 21 June 

The extent of shadowing impact must consider the range of factors that impact on solar access, including the slope of the land, aspect (the way the site is oriented), existing and proposed vegetation and the height and position of existing buildings and structures, including fences. The development application's SEE Report must demonstrate how all these factors have been considered.

Where necessary, Council may require lowering of the proposed building height, or larger building setbacks (the distance between your building and the property boundary), or a combination of both reduced height + increased setback/separation may be needed to maximise solar access and to minimise overshadowing of adjoining buildings.

If the above brief summary about planning and building requirements for overshadowing and solar access is a bit too much information to process, feel free to contact our specialist Town Planning consultant for expert guidance for any shadowing 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 solar access legislation clauses. We can assist with preparing all the relevant planning services, including providing one-stop-shop DA project management expertise to navigate the Council approval process on your behalf.

Visual Privacy

For developments proposing construction of new buildings, or a renovation that will result in an additional storey/floor/level (or extension of an existing upper storey), the Town Planner's Statement of Environmental Effects (SoEE) Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of how the new development will impact the adjoining neighbours visual privacy. Matters for consideration by the SEE Report may include:

• Window placement in context of the existing neighbour's windows and private living areas.
• Views towards the living rooms and the private open space (rear yards) of other dwellings.
• Use of design measures such as offsetting windows, high window sills, partial or full frosted glazing, privacy screens, planting of screening vegetation (e.g. bamboo) to mitigate any overlooking opportunities and minimise privacy impacts.

The Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment against relevant visual privacy requirements so that the Council can be satisfied that all overlooking impacts have been assessed, prior to Council approval. 

Acoustic Privacy

Residential / Sensitive uses

For residential developments or other similar uses that are deemed to be a noise-sensitive use (e.g. Child Care Centre, Education/School, Age Care etc.), the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) Town Planning Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of how the new development will impact the adjoining neighbours acoustic privacy, or vice versa. Matters for consideration by the SEE Report may include:

• Placement of active use outdoor areas such as swimming pool, alfresco/courtyards, tennis court, relative to the neighbours existing bedrooms and/or the development's own bedrooms.
• Separation of roads, parking areas and driveways from bedroom and living room windows.
• Noise transmission between dwellings/buildings (e.g. a dual occupancy sharing a common wall) or between floors (apartments located above/below each other).
• Measures to mitigate external noise sources (eg, traffic noise, placement of air conditioners, exhaust systems, mechanical equipment, pool pumps).
• For sites located on or near major arterial roads (known as "Classified Roads" such as Parramatta Road), the SEE Town Planning Report will also have to address the requirements of State Environmental Planning Policy (Transport and Infrastructure) 2021 and the relevant Australian Standards (AS) AS 3671:1989 Acoustics - road traffic noise  intrusion - building siting and construction. Depending on the type/size/nature of the development, it may also be deemed "Traffic-generating development" which requires referral to and development concurrence (consent) from Transport for NSW (TfNSW) per Schedule 3 of Transport and Infrastructure SEPP 2021.
• For sites located on or near rail corridors (train lines/tracks), the SEE Town Planning Report will have to address "Assessing Vibration: a Technical Guideline (2006)" and consider the relevant Australian Standards such as AS 2107:2000 Acoustics - recommended design sound levels and reverberation times for building interiors.
• For sites located on or near airports and aircraft flight paths such as those located in City of Sydney, Inner West & Bayside Councils, the SEE Town Planning Report will have to consider the adverse acoustic impacts to residents living directly beneath commercial airline flight paths, and research the exact Australian Noise Exposure Index (ANEI) contour. ANEI, also known as ANEF, is a system to measure aircraft noise exposure levels around aerodromes, and based on average daily sound pressure levels measured in decibels. In assessing the development against relevant legislation, the SEE Report will need to consider technical Guidelines and Australian Standards AS 2021:2000 Acoustics - aircraft noise intrusion - building siting and construction, and outline how the buildings can be satisfactorily noise-attenuated (e.g. double or triple glazing of windows).

Commercial uses

For commercial developments or other similar uses that may generate above-average noises due to its operational nature - e.g. indoor recreation facilities such as gymnasiums, indoor go karts tracks, or trampoline centres - the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) Town Planning Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of how the new development will impact the adjoining neighbours acoustic privacy, or vice versa. Matters for consideration by the SEE Report may include:

• The quantum of visitors to such uses particularly during certain peak periods e.g. recreation facilities (indoor) will likely generate a significant number of visitors during weekends and/or after-work hours.
• The management measures that will be implemented to mitigate noisy indoor recreation facility activities (e.g. whether the Gym have acoustic underlay/flooring to minimise noise from people exercising, or management measures to prevent the dropping of Gym weights, or protocols to ensure customers do not congregate within the external areas of a Kids Cafe before attending a Birthday party there).

Industrial / Intensive uses

For industrial developments or other similar uses that are deemed to be a highly-intensive use (e.g. place of public worship (e.g. temples, mosques, churches), car mechanical workshops, smash repairs etc.), the Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) Town Planning Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of how the new development will impact the adjoining neighbours acoustic privacy, or vice versa. Matters for consideration by the SEE Report may include:

• The quantum of visitors to such uses (e.g. a place of public worship will likely generate a significant number of worshippers during peak periods such as Sundays for churches, or Mosques during Ramadan or Eid).
• The management measures that will be implemented to mitigate noisy industrial activities (e.g. will a car mechanical workshop close its roller doors whilst carrying out smash repairs to vehicles)
• Distance of parking areas and driveways from other sensitive uses.

The Town Planning SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive assessment against relevant acoustic privacy requirements so that the Council can be satisfied that all noise sources and acoustic impacts have been assessed, prior to Council approval. 

View Loss

For developments proposing construction of new buildings, or a renovation that will result in an additional storey/floor/level (or extension of an existing upper storey), the Statement of Environmental Effects (SoEE) Town Planning Report must provide a comprehensive assessment and analysis of how the new development will impact the adjoining neighbours existing views i.e. the SoEE Report must provide a comprehensive Visual Impact Assessment (VIA).

There are a number of requirements defined by the NSW Land and Environment Court (LEC) relating to the preparation of photomontages upon which a Visual Impact Assessment can be based. Where a proposal is likely to adversely affect views from either private or public land, Council will give consideration to the LEC’s view sharing Planning Principle established in Tenacity Consulting v Warringah Council [2004] NSWLEC 140. The Tenacity Planning Principle establishes a four-step assessment to assist in deciding whether or not view sharing is reasonable:

1.  assessment of views to be affected.

2.  consider from what part of the property the views are obtained.

3.  assess the extent of the impact.

4.  assess the reasonableness of the proposal that is causing the impact.

“View sharing” concerns the equitable distribution of views between properties. The view sharing controls in Council DCPs usually seek to strike a balance between accommodating new development and maintaining existing views as much as possible, noting that sometimes private view loss is unavoidable within a highly urbanised environment, such as the Sydney CBD.

It is very important to note that the NSW Land and Environment Court have some history of upholding Council approval decisions – despite a development control requiring reasonable sharing of views – and Council’s (e.g. Warringah Council) own DA Assessment Report concluding “devastating impacts” on the neighbour’s views.

Therefore it is critical for residents – who suspect their views may be impacted by a neighbour’s development DA – to immediately contact our Town Planner for further advice so that a proper Visual Impact Assessment and a professional and detailed Town Planning Objection can be prepared on their behalf.