The Planning and Design Code (the Code) is a statutory instrument under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016, for the purposes of development assessment and related matters within South Australia.
The Code contains the planning rules and policies that guide what can be developed in South Australia. Planning authorities use these planning rules to assess development proposals.
A code amendment is a proposal to change the policies, rules, or mapping within the Code.
Fees have been introduced to cover the administrative costs of processing amendments to the Planning and Design Code. These are set out under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (Fees) Notice 2023.
The fees are aimed at recouping costs incurred by the department associated with any code amendments that are commercial in nature from private proponents (land owners), or councils and state agencies that are acting on behalf of private proponents.
No processing fees will be charged where a council or state agency initiates a code amendment that will result in a community benefit (i.e. a code amendment recognising a new State Heritage listing).
The overarching principle underpinning the processing fees is that of “user pays” to recognise the substantial commercial benefits that may be achieved by an applicant seeking a code amendment that increases the value of their land.
The Code Amendment fee structure has four elements which are paid in stages as the code amendment progresses:
- Lodgement Fee - $5,879
The Lodgement Fee is charged to all proponent-initiated code amendments at the initiated stage. This fee covers the administrative oversight required by the department including evaluation of the proposal, consulting with council, reporting to the State Planning Commission, and updating the PlanSA portal.
- Consultation Fee - $9,300
The Consultation Fee is charged when a proponent submits consultation instructions to the department. It covers the preparation of mapping on the portal, establishment of the online consultation form and publication of the consultation on the portal page. It also includes a compliance check of conditions if placed on initiation.
- Determination Fee - $8,979
The Determination Fee recovers the administrative costs associated with the final evaluation of the proposal including assessment against the Engagement Plan and Community Engagement Charter, a review of mapping and policy, resolution of any outstanding state interest matters (i.e. agency referrals), compliance checks and administrative functions associated with Commission advice and determination of the Amendment.
- Implementation Fee - $10,476
The Implementation Fee is charged on approval of the code amendment and covers the administrative functions required to implement the code amendment and bring it into effect, including deployment into the Planning and Design Code, the SA Property and Planning Atlas and the PlanSA portal.
Code amendment processing fees commence on 25 November 2021 and are payable for code amendments already in progress or initiated after this date. Where a code amendment is already in progress, the fee structure will come into effect from the next milestone.
Documents
Use this interactive mapping tool to access the Code Amendment Map Viewer.
This viewer displays code amendments once they have been initiated, all the way through the process, and provides an overview on status, proposal and linkages to relevant information.
For information on how to use this viewer, please click the icon on the map.