Best council's for development

[BenG]

Hi fellow forumites,

I was wondering if anyone had had many dealings with councils in the Sydney area and if they had what ones that thought were the easiest to deal with. The reason why I ask is I want to do a small development (like a duplex) but want to try and avoid have the plans in council for months and months.

I was originally looking in the Sutherland area as that is where I'm from but everyone I speak to about development in this area tells me how difficult council can be.

Any hints and tips would be warmly welcomed

 

[JoannaK]

i've heard quite negative things about sutherland shire council. hurstville can be problematic at times as well.

but it all depends on the complexity of your development. if you just wanted to do a duplex you really shouldn't have any problems with any council on the proviso that it complies with all current planning guidelines.

the most simple DA conditions i've ever read have been from Manly council, but i've got no personal experience with them.

just make sure there aren't any council elections taking place around the time your application would be going through the council process.

 

[BenG]

Thanks Joanna,

I tend to agree with you about sticking to planning guidelines. I hope that if I do that then there shouldn't be too many issues.

I would love to have the money to do something in Manly however I'm looking at spending around 500k for the property and think that in Manly I would struggle to buy a 2bdr unit at that price