In this guide
To ensure the orderly and proper development of an area of the state and in order to counter applications for undesirable development, the Minister may put a proposed Code Amendment into effect at the same time, or after the Code Amendment is released for consultation. These Code Amendments will be in effect for a period of twelve months or until the Code Amendment process is finalised.
The types of Code Amendments that may be suitable for early commencement include heritage amendments and amendments that seek to introduce hazard overlays and policy.
Advice should be sought from the department for all requests for “early commencement” of a Code Amendment. In order to justify early commencement of a Code Amendment, the test in section 78 of the Act will need to be satisfied, including sufficient evidence and justification to demonstrate that early commencement is:
- necessary in the interest of the orderly and proper development of an area of the state
- required in order to counter applications for undesirable development ahead of the outcomes of the consideration of the Code Amendment. Undesirable development is considered as development that would detract from, or negate, the intent of the Code Amendment.
The Act provides additional guidance about the assessment of development applications to ensure that developments are not approved in accordance with the draft Code Amendments during early commencement.
If a development application is lodged during the ‘early commencement’ period, the application must be assessed against the previous version of the Code as well as the version of the Code which has commenced early. If the outcome of the assessment differs, a decision cannot be made until the Code Amendment is no longer on ‘early commencement’.
If the version of the Code which has commenced early decreases the consultation requirements, then the original version of the Code must be used for assessment purposes.
