How do I find planning applications near me?

You find planning applications near you on the council’s application tracker, searched by street, suburb or application number, and in some states on the state planning portal as well. The tracker lists each development application from lodgement to decision, and while an application is out for comment, its plans can usually be read online.

Where do I look in each state?

Every council keeps its own tracker, under names such as a development application tracker, an application enquiry or, in Victoria, a planning register. New South Wales also lists the applications lodged through its planning portal in a state application tracker, so one search there covers every council, and South Australia lodges and tracks development applications through its state portal in the same way. In Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania, the ACT and the Northern Territory, the council’s own tracker, or the territory’s planning authority, is the place to search. In Port Macquarie Hastings, for example, the council’s tracker and the state’s both list the same applications, and the Port Macquarie Hastings page shows what we hold for the council.

What does a tracker show?

The address, what is proposed, the stage it has reached and the decision once it is made. Many trackers carry the plans and the documents too, at least while the application is advertised, and some keep them after the decision. Exempt work never reaches a tracker, and building work signed off by a private certifier often shows only as a record once the approval is lodged with the council.

Can I comment on an application near me?

When it is advertised, yes. The council sets a period for submissions and says how to make one, and in most states it has to consider what is said before it decides. A sign on the site, a letter to the neighbours or a notice online usually opens the period, and the tracker gives the closing day.

Why look up applications before you build?

Because the applications on lots like yours show what the council has accepted there: how close a shed sat to the boundary, whether a carport went in front of the house, whether an overlay brought a planning decision. A past application on your own lot also tells you what the council allowed before you bought, which matters when you add to it. The post on approval after the work is built covers a structure with no record.

Reading it for your own lot

RapidSiteplan reads the lot from its address in a minute, and where a council publishes its application register, the past applications on the lot are read with it. The boundaries, the buildings already standing and the overlays load together, so the history and the plan sit side by side. The patio and deck page shows the sheet for the work you plan, and the council pages for every state show what we hold for each council. Start with the address. The post on seeing a neighbour’s building plans covers what stays private and how to object. The post on when you need a development application covers what brings one in.

Common questions

How do I find planning applications near me? Search the council’s application tracker by street or suburb, and the state planning portal where the state keeps one. Most trackers list each development application from lodgement to decision, with the plans that are open for comment.

Where is the Port Macquarie Hastings council application tracker? On the council’s own website, like every council’s tracker, and because New South Wales lodges applications through its planning portal, the state’s own application tracker lists them as well.

Are planning applications public? An advertised application is, while it is out for comment: the plans and the documents can be read, often online, and anyone can make a submission. Work a private certifier signs off is often not advertised, and shows only as a record once the approval is lodged with the council.