Are you currently in the process of opening your own recreation facility such as; personal training, studio, gym, yoga studio, dance studio, swim school or martial arts dojo? Do you know that development consent is required for new recreation facilities?
Unfortunately all new recreational facilities need to be approved through a development application rather than a complying development certificate.
What is Involved
A development application is required to be lodged with the local Council to obtain development approval. This process can be long and painful for people with no knowledge of the Council procedures and policies.
The following documents are required as a minimum:
- Architectural plans (site plan, elevations and floor plans)
- Statement of environmental effects (planning document that specifies how the development complies and how it will operate)
- Waste Management Plan
The following documents may be required:
- Traffic Management Plan
- BCA Report
- Access Report
- Acoustic Report
The Process
The following is the process for obtaining approval for a recreational facility:
- Check Council’s document requirements for the lodgement of a recreational facility.
- Have your plans and documents prepared as per Council’s requirements (While you can do this yourself it is usually best to have a professional draftsman prepare the plans on your behalf).
- Get Outlook Planning and Development to prepare the Statement of Environmental Effects (We are experts in change of use applications)
- Lodge the development application and pay the DA fee
- Council will review the DA and if all the documents are correct they will generally notify the application for 14 days to neighbours.
- Following the notification period the assessment will be undertaken by Council.
- Council will make their determination and issue a notice of determination and stamp the plans if it has been approved.
- If you are doing any physical building work to the premises you will need to obtain a construction certificate before you can commence the work.
Please note: You cannot operate your business at the premises until you obtain this development approval so it is best to use a professional service to prepare and submit the development application.
You can get Outlook Planning and Development to manage the whole process on your behalf and all you need to do is sit back and wait for the good news!
We have helped many people obtain approval for their recreation facility just like our client Dianne:
Dianne’s Story
Dianne came to Outlook Planning and Development while searching for a premises for her new function training gym. She had a list of potential sites and we identified some key features to look for with the premises such as adequate parking, surrounding uses and to consider things such as disabled parking and access.
Dianne finally found the perfect location and engaged Outlook Planning and Development to handle the development application for her. We prepared the statement of environmental effects and justified some minor non compliances with parking and lodged the development application with Council.
We obtained development approval in under 6 weeks and Dianne was on her way to leaving her current job and starting her business journey.
To read more about Dianne’s story click here to read the blog.