Guide · Development · All Hunter councils
NSW planning terms, defined by the Department: DA, LEP, SEPP, regionally significant and the rest
Council papers use these words as if everyone knows them. Each definition here is quoted from the NSW Department of Planning's own pages, with the date we read it, and followed by what it actually decides for you. The ones worth reading first are the last two, because they hold the numbers that take a decision away from your council: a cost threshold for the regional planning panel, and an objection count for the Independent Planning Commission.
Local development and the development application (DA)
The Department says Local development is the most common type of development in NSW and
needs approval via a development application.
A development counts as local development if an
LEP or SEPP says consent is required and it is not regionally or state significant.
Worth knowing: this is the default. Everything below is either a way out of needing a DA at all, or a reason the DA is decided by someone other than your council. If you want to comment on one, our guide to making a submission covers how.
Local Environmental Plan (LEP)
LEPs guide planning decisions for local government areas across NSW through development and
zoning controls.
The Department adds that they outline what landowners can or cannot do with
their land, including guidelines for building height or what a building is zoned for
.
Worth knowing: a DA asks to build under the LEP; changing the LEP itself is a different process with its own exhibition, explained in our guide to rezoning.
State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP)
SEPPs guide state-wide land use, including urban and regional development.
Worth knowing: a SEPP can override the local picture. Each LEP or SEPP, the Department says, sorts development into three categories: development that does not need consent, development that needs consent, and development that is prohibited. So checking only the council's LEP can give you the wrong answer.
Exempt development
You do not need planning or construction approval for many minor renovations and low-impact
works (exempt development).
Worth knowing: exempt work needs no approval, so there is no application to find or comment on. If a neighbour's minor works go ahead with no DA, this is the first thing to check.
Complying development
Complying development is a fast-track approval process for straightforward residential,
commercial and industrial development.
Worth knowing: it is an approval, but not a DA. A project you expected to find as a DA may have gone through this pathway instead, under the name complying development certificate.
Designated development
Designated development is high-impact development that can affect the environment.
The
Department's examples include chemical factories, large marinas and sewerage treatment works, and
it says such an application must come with an environmental impact statement, requires public
notification for at least 28 days, and can be the subject of a merits appeal to the Land and
Environment Court by objectors
.
Worth knowing: that last point is the unusual one. For designated development, an objector's rights extend past the council's decision to a merits appeal.
Integrated development
Integrated development can be development that needs a permit or licence approval, such as an
aquaculture permit, mining lease, pollution licence or Aboriginal heritage impact permit.
The
council refers the DA to the state agency that issues that approval, and
Council must not approve the development application if the public authority recommends
refusal.
Worth knowing: the agency's view can bind the council, but only if it arrives in time. The Department says a council may decide without it if the advice is not received within 40 days of referral for a DA that is not advertised, or 21 days from when submissions are forwarded for one that is.
Concurrence
Concurrence is when agreement from a referral authority must be obtained before the council
can determine a development application.
Worth knowing: where a DA needs concurrence, the council cannot decide it alone. The Department also notes the Planning Secretary can now act in place of an approval body to prevent delays in certain circumstances.
Development without consent
The Department says Not all development requires consent before work can start.
Its
examples are home businesses or markets in a public recreation zone
.
Worth knowing: the Department lists this separately from exempt development, so “no consent needed” and “exempt” are not the same claim. Check which one a project is relying on.
Regionally significant development, and the planning panel
Regionally significant development needs to be notified and assessed by a council and then
determined by the relevant Planning Panel.
The Department's list of what counts includes
development with a capital investment value (CIV) over $30 million
, and
council-related development with a CIV over $5 million
. It also says
Regional development does not apply in the City of Sydney Council area.
Worth knowing: your council still does the assessment, but the panel makes the
decision, and the Department describes A public panel meeting
as the point where people can
be heard before it does. The Department's page carries a last-updated date of 18 May 2023, so check
the thresholds there before relying on an exact figure. Who sits on the panel that decides Hunter
applications is in our guide to who
decides a DA.
State significant development (SSD), and when the Independent Planning Commission decides
The Department says some developments are considered state significant because they are
important to NSW for economic, environmental or social reasons
, and that
SSD applications are determined by the Minister for Planning, the Independent Planning Commission
(IPC), or a delegate of either.
The Minister is the default. The Department says the IPC is
generally the consent authority where the applicant is not a public authority and one or more of
these applies: the council has lodged an objection; 50 or more public objections are received
during exhibition
; or the applicant has made a reportable political donation.
Worth knowing: this is the most practical number on the page. The Department
adds that petitions and identically worded submissions are counted as a single objection
, so
50 form letters count once. Exhibition, it says, runs for at least 28 days, or 14 days for relevant
residential applications. How to find the Hunter projects on this track is in
our guide to state significant development.
How we made this
Every quoted passage is verbatim from the NSW Department of Planning's pages, on the NSW Planning Portal and planning.nsw.gov.au, read on 2 October 2026. Where a page lists many items, we quote the ones that bear on Hunter readers and say so; the full lists are on the linked pages. The “worth knowing” notes are our reading of the quoted text, offered as such. This is general information about a public process, not legal or planning advice, and the legislation itself sits on the NSW legislation site, which we could not read for this page. The regionally significant page carries a 2023 update date and we have said so beside its figures. We hold no interest in any development application and have not contacted the Department.
Sources
- NSW Planning Portal, Planning approval pathways (read 2 October 2026): the definitions of exempt development, complying development and development without consent, and its examples; the term complying development certificate.
- NSW Planning Portal, Local development (read 2 October 2026): the definitions of local development, LEPs, SEPPs, designated development and integrated development; the three categories each LEP or SEPP sorts development into; the EIS, 28-day notification and merits appeal for designated development; that council must not approve integrated development where the public authority recommends refusal; and the 40-day and 21-day periods.
- NSW Planning Portal, Concurrence and referrals (read 2 October 2026, last updated 19 April 2024): the definition of concurrence and the Planning Secretary's power to act in place of an approval body.
- NSW Planning Portal, Regionally Significant Development (read 2 October 2026, last updated 18 May 2023): the definition, the $30 million and $5 million capital investment value thresholds, the City of Sydney exclusion and the public panel meeting.
- NSW Department of Planning, State significant development (read 2 October 2026): why development is state significant; who determines SSD applications; when the IPC is the consent authority; that petitions and same-worded submissions count as one objection; and the exhibition periods.
Spotted an error in this guide? Request a correction and we will check it against the sources and log the outcome here.