First subdivison - South Eastern Melbourne

Hi Timmyd02,

Can you PM me your contacts, please? Thank you

 

Hi Tufan,

Agree with you completely in regards to committing to certain design or layout that may not be best suited to the block etc. It is always good to get another persons perspective.

I appreciate you taking the time to look at alternative options. I will run these past my new land consultant (long story..) and also arrange a meeting with council town planner to get their thoughts on the initial designs shortly.

Thanks again.

 

Hi @Paco98,

I will send you a PM with a couple of great contacts. One of which was suggested to me by @MrFox.

Cheers

 

PM me?

 

For those interested I have attached a snapshot of the current proposed floor plans.

What a difference it makes dealing with an experienced planner! A night and day difference from the original concept plans which were drawn up. Very happy with the design so far. Pre-application will be submitted to council this week so hoping for some positive feedback within the next 30-60 days.

Pending feedback from council, we will hopefully progress into town planning stage.

Cheers,

Dan

 

A much better solution!
Interesting comment about using an experienced planner. There are so many out there at the momnet, fresh out of uni, or just left a Council, who think they know it all - they don't!
Well done so far - looking forward to the continuing story

 

Evening all,

We have this week received response from council in regards to the pre-application. Surprisingly quick response which was good however they have taken a hard line approach in regards to the SPOS and have picked up a couple of other items, none of which are in relating to the proposed new dwelling, only existing.

The next step is to proceed with Town Planning stage with a few tweaks to design however given the feedback from pre-app I am slightly nervous given the costs involved.

Councils proposal to remove existing newly renovated dwelling seems absurd. To my understanding a major concern is neighborhood character and 2 new 2 storey town houses will impose far greater impact to neighborhood character than what we are proposing.

Anyway, would love to hear peoples thoughts.

See below feedback;

The following issues with the pre-application proposal have been identified and should be addressed prior to lodging an application;

• The proposed secluded private open spaces do not comply with the variation to the zone. Each dwelling must provide secluded private open space of a minimum area of 60 square metres with a minimum dimension of 5 metres with convenient access from a living room.

• The turning area for the proposed car port to the existing dwelling appears difficult to manoeuvre. Plans should show a 4 metre radius turning circle.

• The proposed canopy trees should be surrounded by 20 square metres permeable surface with a minimum radius of 3 metres. Landscaping opportunities along the driveway and turning area are very poor

• The retention of the existing dwelling is posing significant design constraints which do not appear to be easily overcome. It is highly recommended that a revised design response provides two new dwellings with the removal of the existing dwelling.

Thanks in advance all.

Have a great Christmas and New Year!

 

Reading between the lines - sounds to me like the Council planner is inexperienced

 

Hi Dan, have you confirmed that the boundary shown on your design plans is based on a licensed surveyors title re-establishment survey?

I ask because you stated earlier that the sub surveyors arent beginning until after the development planning permit has been issued. And the cost you quoted for the site analysis survey was too low for a title re-establishment survey to be included.

 

Hi @lixas4,

Thanks for the response.

I have not yet been in contact with a land surveyor apart from obtaining the initial site survey for the planner to work off. Also just realized I didn't list an approx cost for the title re-establishment fee in the original post which I have estimated around $5-6k from what I have read online.

In your opinion is it best to speak with a land surveyor at this early stage prior to submitting town planning application to council? After the pre-application feedback we will be making a few changes to the current proposed plans prior to submitting however.

After discussing with my planner, he believes what we received from council in the pre-application response is a fair amount of bluff on the SPOS issue as they are obviously trying to protect the integrity of their schedule to the zone.

Cheers

 

Hi Dan, as far as getting a re-establishment survey done before finalising development planning permit, i think its a must.

Have a read of this post

Are Title Re-establishment surveys important for Planning Permits Applications?

Afterwards if you have any queries you can reply or PM me if you want a more private conversation

 

Hi there
I have an IP in Brisbane Logan area set on a 800 sqm land.Not sure if I can subdivide the land?Can you please point me in the right direction as to who can I contact to find out more?Also,do you know of a good granny flat builder if the subdivision plan falls through?Last question-could any of you recommend a good agent who specializes in finding blocks of land that can be subdivided?

 

After a slow period over the Christmas break I have regained some motivation and pushing ahead with planning!

My planner has tweaked the design slightly to try and resolve the non compliant SPOS issues and now feels we are a much better chance.

He has also drafted a 4 bed/2 bathroom option rather than the original 3 bed/2 bathroom now that we have slightly more floor area upstairs (see attached). I would love some feedback on the 2 design options. We also have the option to delete the upstairs studio to make the 3 upstairs bedrooms slightly larger however I prefer having that second living zone. Keeping in mind this will be a rental therefor trying to take the emotional side of things out of the project and trying to focus on maximising re-sale value and rental return.

From what I have seen on realestate.com.au there is a fair mix of 3, 4 and 5 bed townhouses on subdivided blocks in the area so undecided on what the market is typically after. Without a great deal of recent comparable sales it is hard to get a good indication of the premiums people are paying for more bedrooms. I then have to factor in the added build costs. With this in mind I am undecided on opting for the more spacious 3 bed design or the slightly pokey 4 bedder but swaying towards the 3 bed option.. The total internal living area will be around the 19-20sqm mark.

Once I make a decision on the floor plan layout we will be compiling the relevant documents and drawings for town planning submission. From there I will have my fingers crossed for some positive feedback from council!

Any feedback will be appreciated. Cheers

 

Who is the drafty?... i would have thought if they knew the area they would know what the council are after and it would have gone straight through....

On another note, I'm building a 3br double storey in a backyard for a client in scoresby and he is expecting high $700s even $800k

 

The plans look good. Make sure the kitchen has adequate pantry.
The 4 bedroom unit should give you better yield and higher value.

 

Hi @Timmyd02,

Id be interested in chatting further if you are a local builder. Have been speaking with a couple of builders I know to obtain some initial pricing for the build but always good to get a few quotes. Would be interested to check out your current project in Scoresby too if at all possible. Will shoot you a PM.

 

Hi all,

Have decided to progress with the 3 bed/2 bath design retaining the upstairs studio rather than the 4 bed design.

The plans have been narrowed down to the 2 attached first floor plan options. I am struggling to make a clear decision but swaying towards option 2..

Any feedback would be appreciated!

My initial thoughts on each layout below;

Option 1:
- Bedrooms more private from studio area
- Larger floor area - larger bedrooms
- WIR to bed 3

Option 2:
- Northern aspect studio
- Option to add wall creating additional bedroom/study
- 9sqm smaller - cheaper build
- Larger bathroom (unsure which I prefer)

Thanks in advance.

 

I like option 2.
Its nice to have the living facing north and there is a separation between bedrooms.

 

Great work dan_89
I finished my first splitter middle last year in croydon, almost identical to you,
I reno'd the front property and built a single storey 3 bed out the back.
Had to jump through a few council hoops with Maroondah, but was worth it in the end, even with extra time and costs.
Next project I am in early pre planning phase on hopeful 4 townhouse subdivision / build in croydon.
Look forward to sharing any questions that we may be able to help each other with
Cheers

 

Thanks @Keentolearn77,

Well done on your efforts so far! I'd be keen to hear more about your dealings with council for the subdivision and also keen to follow your progress on the 4 townhouse build as that's something I plan on doing in future also. I will PM you. Cheers!