Hello everyone What is HCA ? And what are the restrictions of having a home in a HCA zone? Our council is looking to zone our area as a HCA is there anything the residents can do? Thanks everyone looking for answers
It preserves the character of the suburbs. You can still have and enjoy your home though there may be some restrictions on what you can't do to it eg: demolition, refacing brickwork, second storey additions, window shutters, solar panels facing the street. There may be recommendations on approved colour schemes, materials, fencing etc. Most external works will require council approval rather than a certifier
Heritage Conservation Areas are designed to make it harder to change the streetscape so that the features of existing dwellings are maintained. This will generally rule out most of complying development and SEPP housing codes (although internal alternations are still possible), everything else will need a full DA through council. I have been through a couple of DAs in HCA areas (City of Sydney and Inner West) and pleasing the Heritage Officer can be a challenge. There's probably not much you can do to prevent the HCA, you may be able to be excluded if you feel your property doesn't fit into the character of the streetscape. In general its not a bad thing as it makes your area more cohesive and prevents too much development.