The Planning Series: Development Control Plans
If you are planning a new home, renovation, or investment property, you will encounter a range of planning controls that will influence what you can build, how it looks, and how Council assesses it. These controls can feel overwhelming at first, but understanding their role can make the design and approval process far more predictable.
In this article, we will start with one of the most commonly referenced, and often misunderstood, planning instruments: the Development Control Plans, or DCP for short.
What Is a Development Control Plan?
A Development Control Plan is a planning document prepared by a local council to guide how development should respond to its surroundings. While higher-level planning instruments determine what is permissible on a site, the DCP focuses on how development should be designed.
Each council prepares its own DCP, reflecting the character, density, environmental conditions, and planning priorities of its local government area. As a result, DCPs vary significantly from one council to another, even where sites appear similar.
For anyone considering development, this is why reviewing the relevant DCP early, ideally before design work begins or a property is purchased, is so important.
Are DCPs Mandatory?
One of the most common questions we hear is whether a DCP must be followed strictly.
Technically, a DCP is not a statutory planning instrument. It does not operate in the same way as zoning or land-use controls. Instead, it provides guidance intended to support broader planning objectives and inform Council’s assessment of a development application.
In practice, however, DCPs carry significant influence. Councils routinely rely on them when assessing proposals, and departures from DCP controls are often closely examined. While flexibility can exist, it typically requires a well-reasoned design response that demonstrates the intent of the control has been achieved.
This distinction, between what is written and how it is applied, is one of the most important aspects of understanding DCPs.
How Do Courts Treat DCPs?
The practical weight of a DCP becomes particularly clear in planning appeals before the NSW Land and Environment Court.
The Court has consistently held that the relevance of a DCP depends on how consistently a Council applies it. This principle was articulated in the case of Stockton Development Pty Ltd v Manly Council [2004] NSWLEC 472, which established that a DCP is afforded weight to the extent that it is consistently relied upon by the local authority.
In simple terms, if a Council applies a particular DCP control rigorously across multiple applications, the Court is likely to give that control substantial weight. If application is inconsistent, the control may be treated with more flexibility.
For applicants, this means that simply reading the DCP does not always provide the full picture. Understanding how a Council has historically applied its controls, and how they are treated in appeal scenarios, is often just as important as the wording of the document itself.
Area-Specific DCPs and Why DCPs Vary
Most DCPs include controls that apply to specific precincts or character areas within a local government area. These provisions recognise that different parts of a city or suburb have distinct built forms, histories, and sensitivities.
The City of Sydney DCP 2012 provides a clear example. Within that document, specific areas such as Central Sydney are subject to additional controls relating to built form, including street frontage, setbacks and separation distances. These controls are not arbitrary; they are tied to objectives such as maintaining daylight and sunlight to streets, protecting amenity at lower levels, and reinforcing streets and laneways as important public places.
Other areas, including identified special character precincts, are subject to controls intended to protect heritage significance while allowing contemporary development to complement its context. Hyde Park and its surrounds, for example, are managed carefully due to their cultural and civic importance, with controls designed to balance preservation with ongoing urban growth.
DCP controls vary because the impacts of development vary.
A dense CBD environment presents different challenges to a suburban street or a coastal landscape. Issues such as overshadowing, privacy, noise, heritage, and environmental sensitivity must all be considered in context. DCPs are the mechanism Councils use to address these factors in a structured and locally responsive way.
In some areas, the emphasis may be on managing building height and scale to protect public amenity. In others, it may focus on landscape character, environmental protection, or neighbourhood consistency. The level of detail within a DCP reflects the complexity of the area it governs.
Why This Matters for Your Project
For clients, understanding the role of the DCP helps explain why certain design constraints exist and why Council feedback often focuses on matters such as scale, setbacks, or amenity rather than aesthetics alone.
More importantly, it highlights the value of seeking early legal and planning advice. A design that responds thoughtfully to the objectives of the DCP — rather than rigidly adhering to it or attempting to disregard it — is far more likely to achieve a timely and positive outcome.
Experience with how Councils interpret and apply their DCPs in practice can often mean the difference between a smooth approval process and one that becomes delayed, redesigned, or refused.
Final Thoughts
While Development Control Plans are not statutory instruments, they play a central role in shaping development outcomes and Council decision-making. Understanding their purpose, their limitations, and how they are applied in practice is essential for anyone undertaking a development project.
In the next article in this series, we will examine the Local Environmental Plan (LEP), the document that determines what development is permissible on a site and how those rules interact with DCP provisions in real-world applications.
If you are considering a project and would like early insight into how local planning controls may influence your design, seeking informed guidance at the outset can save significant time, cost, and frustration later on.
