Services
Planning and Environment
Planning decisions shape what can be built, where, and under what conditions. Getting a development application wrong can cost months, and sometimes a project.
Archer Lawyers advises landowners, developers, objectors and business owners on planning approvals, refusals, conditions of consent and appeals, including proceedings before the Land and Environment Court. We help clients understand their planning risk before it becomes a dispute, and represent them when it already has.
We advise at every stage of the planning process, including in relation to:
- Development and modification applications: preparing, reviewing and advising on DAs and Section 4.55 modification applications to give proposals the best chance of approval
- Complying and exempt development: advising on whether proposed works qualify as complying or exempt development, and on disputes over complying development certificates
- Planning proposals and rezoning: advising landowners and developers seeking to rezone land or amend planning controls
- Objections to proposed developments: advising neighbours, residents and businesses on their rights to object, and preparing submissions to council
- Refusals and conditions of consent: reviewing reasons for refusal or onerous conditions, and advising on the best path forward, whether that's negotiation, modification or appeal
- Merit appeals and Land and Environment Court proceedings: representing applicants and objectors in Class 1 merit appeals and other Land and Environment Court matters
- Environmental planning and compliance: advising on obligations under environmental planning instruments, biodiversity and heritage controls, and council compliance action
- Protecting existing use rights: advising landowners seeking to rely on or preserve existing use rights when planning controls change around them
- Planning instrument interpretation: guidance on how LEPs, SEPPs, development control plans and related council policies apply to a particular site or proposal
- Contaminated land and remediation: advising on land affected by contamination or pollution, including remediation obligations and the preparation of voluntary management proposals
Outcomes we help clients work toward include:
- A development application approved, or a workable path found after refusal
- Conditions of consent negotiated to a workable outcome
- Objections resolved before a hearing is required
- Successful outcomes in Land and Environment Court appeals, where matters do proceed to litigation
- Planning proposals or rezoning requests progressed with council or the relevant planning authority
- Existing use rights protected where a site's permitted use is under threat from changed planning controls
- Compliance or enforcement action resolved or defended, minimising cost and disruption to the client
