FAQs

A Development Control Plan (DCP) gives detailed rules for planning and designing developments, supporting the main planning controls in a council's Local Environmental Plan (LEP). Every council must share their DCPs on the Planning Portal. You can view Development Control Plan/s here.

The current event rules were made in 2011 and are now out of date. Council was working on a plan to let some small events on private land happen without needing a development application (DA), but state agencies had concerns about how these events would be managed. Since those concerns couldn’t be resolved, the plan has been dropped. Because of this, Council has created a new draft to update the rules, remove the outdated DA exemption, and avoid any confusion.

Events and functions that are re not part of the land’s approved use (ancillary use) will need Council approval (a DA). These include:

• Where the function or event is carried out for commercial gain or profit, if this differs from any approved use of the land
• Where the scale or impact of the event (in terms of the number of attendees and vehicles and extent of event planning required) is significantly greater than the routine or approved use of the land
• Where a property is advertised as available for hire for events and/or functions, or the event is promoted to the general public
• Where there is evidence of a regular use of a premises for events or functions
• Where the event is not limited to occupants of the property, their relatives or friends. 

None of these factors are essential in determining that an event requires a DA but taken in combination may indicate as such.

An ancillary use refers to a secondary activity that supports or is reasonably associated with the primary use of a building or land. Ancillary uses do not operate independently and are generally considered typical to the approved use of a site.

Examples:

• The primary use of a residential property is to accommodate its occupants. Ancillary uses may include domestic activities or occasional social gatherings consistent with typical residential living. A use that may be considered non-ancillary in this context would include hiring the property or part thereof for a wedding reception or similar function involving nonresidents, as this exceeds what may reasonably be expected within a residential neighbourhood.

• The primary use of a public park is for general recreation, including activities such as walking, informal sport, and children’s play. Ancillary uses might include small community events that align with this recreational purpose. In contrast, a non-ancillary use could include a commercial festival, exclusive event, or large-scale public gathering. These uses may significantly restrict typical park usage, limit community access, or generate impacts not ordinarily associated with the park’s intended purpose.

Yes. If an event is not provided with an exemption from DA requirements by an Environmental Planning Instrument, such as a LEP or State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP), DA approval is required. The current DCP provided a DA exemption for smaller events up to 500 people. However, as Council is no longer able to provide this exemption, a change in DCP controls is required. As such, events that had been operating as ‘exempt’ will need a DA approval to continue.