Civix planners, engineers, and surveyors have obtained consent for a 12 lot residential subdivision at Schnapper Rock, Greenhithe.

This application was particularly complex including considerations under the NESFW for culverting in a stream, and also regarding navigating the rule framework and application input requirements relating to the Greenhithe Sub-precinct B provisions.

The first issue of clarification related to the activity status and matters to address for the stream within the culvert under Regulation 71 of the National Environmental Standard for Freshwater 2020 (NESFW), and after several exchanges and some design amendments, the consent pathway was confirmed by the Council’s Earth, Streams, and Trees Specialist Unit and approval obtained.

Regarding the subdivision and earthworks aspects of the application, after many exchanges with the Council’s consultant planner and landscape architect on the interpretation of the rules for this Precinct, we obtained clarification that the required grades (less than 8 degrees) for development can relate to the site after works are completed rather than before the works are completed. This was critical to the application in that this enabled the subdivision to be assessed on the basis of lots of 500m2 where connection to public wastewater infrastructure is available and this grade of site could be achieved.

The result of the application approval is that the most efficient use of the site is enabled for the supply of high quality housing in a landscaped environment in a desirable location, with added ecological benefits of associated weed and pest control and enhancement planting in the covenanted bush area over the remaining 4,844m2 of the site.