S.A. new Planning Code to replace all existing council development plans.

Draft Planning and Design Code for Phase Two and Phase Three | SA Planning Portal


I only found out about this last weekend chatting to a developer at a party, I was surprised to hear about this, I’ve been out of touch since having a break from subdividing and renovating for the last 12 mths. So anyway, I’ve had a read through (gone a bit cross eyed in the process) trying to figure out how these proposed changes will affect me as a small scale (wanna-be) developer.

Quick summary:

-the SA government is way more pro-development than local councils.

-this new Code massively simplifies the dozens of different council residential zones (each with varying minimum lot sizes/frontages) into just 4 residential zones.

Urban Corridor Living Zone -no minimum lot sizes or frontages that I could find, just states minimum of 45 dwellings per hectare.

Housing Diversity Neighbourhood Zone- no minimum lot sizes or frontages that I could find, just states minimum of 70 dwellings per hectare

General Neighbourhood Zone
"site areas (or allotments in the case of land division) not less than: i. 300m2 for detached dwellings not on a Battle-axe site/allotment or in a terrace arrangement; ii. 300m2 (exclusive of the Battle-axe ‘handle’) for detached dwellings on a Battle-axe site/allotment; iii. 300m2 for semi-detached dwellings; iv. 200m2 for row dwellings or detached dwellings in a terrace arrangement; v. 300m2 per dwelling for group dwellings and dwellings within a residential flat building; and b. site frontages not less than: i. 9m for detached dwellings not on a Battle-axe site/allotment or in a terrace arrangement; ii. 5m for detached dwellings on a Battle-axe site/allotment; iii. 9m for semi-detached dwellings; iv. 7m (averaged) for row dwellings or detached dwellings in a terrace arrangement; v. 15m (total) for group dwelling and residential flat building developments."

Suburban Neighbourhood Zone - "Where the allotment has a slope less than 12.5% (1-in-8), development accords with the following: a) site areas (or allotment areas in the case of land division) not less than the minimum allotment size specified in the Minimum Allotment Size Technical and Numeric Variation Overlay; and b) site frontages not less than the minimum allotment frontage specified in the Minimum Allotment Frontage Technical and Numeric Variation Overlay." Where the hell are these overlays...can't find, I'll keep looking???
If the block gradient is >1:8 it's 1000m2 min, 15m frontage
If the block gradient is >1:4 it's 1500m2 min, 20m frontage


These changes are going to make a large number of properties that couldn’t be subdivided under the existing council’s development plans subdividable. As a developer I thinking yay, as a home owner I’m thinking bugga, my neighbourhood is going to get a lot more crowded (I currently live in an area the council will only permit subdivisions with a min size of 420m2 and 12m wide).

 

Tool to search for your property address and find out which of the proposed new Planning Zones apply to you:

ArcGIS Web Application

 

Actually there are way more residential zones than I first thought (my bad for just skim reading the 3000 pages!), the map tool above makes it much simpler, but I still can't find the Suburban "Minimum Allotment Size Technical and Numeric Variation Overlay"- any help greatly appreciated.

 

Found them!

 

Very interesting, thanks very much sharing @Erica!

 

This cant come quick enough.The current way we wade through all the different rules & regulations is crazy.Working for a builder, its a minefield.The changes will give a lot of areas a good CG injection as well.Lets hope!!

 

This is finally dropping on March 19 now, after plenty of delays.
A new planning and development system for all of South Australia

I presume that this will allow access to developments in certain areas which were previously unreachable.

 

Looks like the impact is more mixed overall, in most instances it looks like subdivision will be possible where it wasn't. There's also a few instances where the reverse is true, particularly in some of the more pro-subdivision local councils.

 

By the way, for anyone looking for an easy online mapping resource, it can be accessed here:

SAPPA