Author: secureuser

The last thing you want to hear as a developer is that your site can’t be developed after you’ve gone unconditional on the purchase contract.

WSA have been involved in a job situated on a waterway that was affected by both local and regional flooding. Our initial brief was undertaking a preliminary desktop study to advise on the developable area. This report was provided to the client who then decided to push ahead with the purchase.

Under the advice of the client’s project manager the Development Approval phase of the project was sent out for pricing. We submitted our price and things went quiet.

Finally the project manager came back to us with feedback from other consultants that the development couldn’t be done. Fast forward six months and with WSA’s involvement this site now has a Development Approval that other consultants thought couldn’t be achieved.

WSA goes to great effort when providing preliminary information or tenders to ensure we can fulfil our clients expectations for a project. If WSA believe your proposal cant be delivered we will advise you immediately before to much money has been spent on a concept that is not viable.

Are you thinking about subdividing your current property? Or maybe you’ve seen an investment site that has been advertised on a real estate website as a subdivision STCA (Subject To Council Approval). In this 5-part series WSA will take you through the steps required for subdividing a property.

Subdivisions in Queensland can sometimes be a tricky maze to navigate. The information in this series is generally related to residential subdivision. While the issues surrounding non-residential subdivisions can be similar there are often additional charges and services associated with them. To stop you wasting time and pulling your hair out with frustration it is always worthwhile to organise a site specific consultation.

How to Subdivide your land
When undertaking a subdivision WSA explain it in four basic stages:

1. Development Approval
2. Operational Works Approval
3. Construction
4. Plan sealing and registration

Get the experts in EARLY!
If you are looking at purchasing a property, all we can say is do your due diligence and get the experts in early. As a property developer there is nothing worse than doing your sums on the number of lots you think the property can yield to only find after purchase that it is a lot lower.

At this stage WSA’s experience shows that you should look at engaging a civil engineer, town planner and registered surveyor. It is common for surveyors to offer town planning services but just be aware that this may not be their area of expertise.

You may find that occasionally town planners may tell you it’s not necessary to engage a civil engineer (or even a surveyor) at this stage. However, for a small investment now, engaging a civil engineer with the expertise in subdivisions, such as WSA, could save you heartache and a large expense from an engineering issue that other professionals are not trained to see.

Before obtaining Development Approval or DA some investigation will need to be undertaken utilising your newly appointed professional team. Servicing of your site for things such as water, sewer and stormwater is undertaken by a civil engineer. The relevant regional plans and planning schemes are assessed by the town planner in association with the civil engineer. The surveyor will then be able to come up with a lot layout based on the information provided by both the town planner and civil engineer.

At this stage you may also be advised of other professionals, such as ecologists, that may be required to ensure that there aren’t any issues before pushing forward to obtain a Development Approval.

The next article in the series will examine the Development Approval process.

Please feel free to contact us to discuss your next upcoming project.