Development application process

To develop property in Toowoomba, you may need to make a development application (DA). Getting early advice about your proposal can help you know whether you need a DA, and understand the process of lodging one.

Research and advice about a DA

Before you prepare and lodge a DA:

Advice from outside Council

Some professionals outside of Council can help with your proposal, such as a:

  • town planner
  • surveyor building designer
  • builder.

Hiring development experts can give you expertise in planning and development. They can provide professional advice and lodge DAs on your behalf.

When you look for a development consultant, make sure they have expertise in the type of proposal you’re making. That might be:

  • town planning
  • civil engineering
  • surveying
  • building design
  • environmental matters
  • construction.

DA assessment journey

We assess DAs against the requirements in the:

A properly made DA is one that has the required forms and relevant documents under the Act and planning scheme.

We cannot accept DAs that are not properly made.

Learn how to prepare and lodge a properly made DA.

Application

Our Technical Advice Team can help you identify which application form you need for your DA. This could be:

  • DA Form 1
  • DA Form 2 (in some instances)
  • Planning Act Form 5: Change Application.

You may also need to provide technical plans and the following reports to show you’re meeting codes:

  • Acoustic assessment report
  • Bushfire hazard assessment report and management plan
  • Ecological assessment
  • Flood hazard assessment and mitigation report
  • Traffic impact assessment report.

Your pre-lodgement meeting will also help with working out which supporting information you’ll need.

Find forms and templates for lodging your DA with:

Application fees

Lodging a DA attracts an application fee .

We'll send you a 'request for payment' letter confirming the application fees when you lodge your application. This letter will include our payment options.

Review

Our planning team reviews DAs lodged with us. The assessor will check:

  • if there are any gaps in the information 
  • if you need to seek expert advice
  • if you need to refer the DA to any other agencies
  • major and minor issues to think about in the DA assessment.

This review takes up to 10 business days from when the planning team receives the DA.

A confirmation notice confirms that your DA is properly made under the Planning Act 2016 Qld. It outlines key details such as:

  • public notification requirements
  • identification of referral agencies
  • whether an information request will be made.

Information request

The planning team may request more information to help assess the DA.

You have three months to respond to the information request, unless we agree to a different timeframe. 

Learn more about the DA rules.

Referral

You may be asked to send the DA to other agencies to meet requirements in the Planning Regulation 2017 (Qld). 

For example, you might send the DA to:

The Queensland Government is usually involved when the DA proposes to:

  • develop on or near a state-controlled road or railway line
  • involve an environmentally relevant activity
  • develop on, or connect to, a heritage place.

A referral agency may also issue an information request.

Public notification

Some DAs require public notification, including:

  • impact-assessable DAs 
  • variation schemes. 

Public notification gives the public time to have their say about these types of DA. During this time, the public can give feedback on how the DA affects them.

We consider public submissions when deciding on a DA.

The public can have their say on DAs that didn’t go to public notification, but they cannot appeal our decision to the Court.

Learn more about the platform to have your say on DAs.

Deciding on DAs

Deciding on DAs

We’ll send you our decision on your DA as a decision notice. The time this takes depends on:

  • how complex the application is
  • the assessment level – code-assessable or impact-assessable
  • how many referral agencies it might need.

There are three possible outcomes:

  • approve an application
  • approve an application subject to a series of conditions
  • refuse an application.

We will send a statement of reasons if we approve or refuse the DA. This statement outlines our reasons for our decision. We also publish the statements on Development.i

Conditions

We have apply condition sets that ensure any development permits we issue:

  • make obligations clear
  • use concise language
  • contain consistent referencing to approved plans and documents
  • have consistent headings and formatting
  • are consistent across the Region
  • responsive to the needs of the development.

The assessing officer’s report will include any conditions.

Appeal a decision on a DA

Certain people can appeal our decision on a DA under the Planning Act:

Appeals on DAs are dealt with through the Queensland Planning and Environment Court.

The Queensland Government publishes appeals and has more information on planning and development dispute resolution.

 

Track or find a DA

On Development.i, you can view DAs received after 1 January 2007 for Toowoomba and 17 March 2008 for the Toowoomba Regional Council area, including:

  • material change of use
  • reconfiguring a lot
  • requests to change approvals
  • requests for negotiated decisions.

You can track the progress of current DAs and see:

  • key milestones in the process
  • the current status
  • the various stages of the assessment process
  • estimated assessment timeframes
  • publicly available documentation.

Further assistance

Get advice from our Technical Advice Team.

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