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Bellingen Shire Council — Development Application Data

A live snapshot of development activity in Bellingen Shire Council — sourced from NSW Government open data and the 413,770-DA Plan Advice corpus. Refreshed automatically. Data reflects the most recent NSW Planning Portal open-data feeds, counted application by application.

DAs on file
926
Since 2021
Lodged last 12m
129
Median assessment
79 days
Clause 4.6 rate
4.4%
Development standard variations

How long a DA takes in Bellingen Shire Council, and who decides it

Counted from every application Bellingen Shire Council determined in the last 5 years, as published in the NSW Planning Portal open data. Timelines are lodgement to determination, so they include the time spent waiting on the applicant.

Median determination
79 days
across 679 determinations
Slowest 20% take
147+ days
the figure worth planning around
Against NSW
+19 days
the NSW median is 60 days
Approved as CDC
15.3%
140 complying development certificates
Who determines applications here
Council (delegation not specified)96.4% · 672
Council staff under delegation1.1% · 8

An application determined under delegation is decided by the assessing officer. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting and adds a meeting cycle to the timeline. Where the council recorded only “Council” it did not say which, so that row is left as published.

4.4% of applications in Bellingen Shire Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 8.8% of those variations were granted (3 of 34). 6.1% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 27.9% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $260,983.

Development type mix

What people are building in Bellingen Shire Council. Ranked by DA volume.

Erection of a new structure261
Dwelling house249
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure175
Secondary dwelling94
Dwelling94
Alterations and additions to residential development81
Shed80
Demolition74

Development cost distribution

Estimated development cost ranges reported on Bellingen Shire Council DAs.

Under $100k434
$100k – $500k297
$500k – $1M124
$1M – $5M49
$5M+9

Bellingen Shire Council DAs — common questions

Answered from this council's own determinations. Where a council has not published a figure, the question is left out rather than guessed.

How many development applications does Bellingen Shire Council handle?

Plan Advice holds 926 development applications for Bellingen Shire Council, 129 of them lodged in the last 12 months. The figures on this page are counted from that register, not estimated.

How long does a DA take in Bellingen Shire Council?

The median assessment time is 79 days. That is the council's own reported figure from the NSW Planning Portal league tables, so it covers every DA they determined — not a sample.

How long does the council take to determine a DA in Bellingen Shire Council?

The median is 79 days from lodgement to determination across 679 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 147 days or more. The NSW median is 60 days. Counted from the NSW Planning Portal open data, so it covers every application — not a sample.

Who decides development applications in Bellingen Shire Council?

1.1% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 96.4%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.

Does Bellingen Shire Council approve clause 4.6 variations?

4.4% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 8.8% of those were granted (3 of 34 in the last 5 years).

Can I use a CDC instead of a DA in Bellingen Shire Council?

15.3% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (140 certificates in the last 5 years), and 27.9% of CDC applications lodged were rejected rather than accepted. A CDC only applies if the proposal meets every development standard in the Codes SEPP.

What kinds of development are most common in Bellingen Shire Council?

The most frequent application types are erection of a new structure (261), dwelling house (249), alterations or additions to an existing building or structure (175).

How often is a clause 4.6 variation used in Bellingen Shire Council?

41 applications — 4.43% of the register — sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard.

Most recent development applications

Sampled from the NSW Planning Portal open-data feed.

PAN-676424
67 CROWN STREET BELLINGEN 2454
Erection of a new structure · lodged 2026-09-17
$29,412
DA2026/00706
6 HONEYSUCKLE PLACE MYLESTOM 2454
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure · lodged 2026-09-17
$98,000
DA2026/00704
17 MOUNT STREET FERNMOUNT 2454
Dwelling house · lodged 2026-09-10
$160,000
DA2026/00690
136 SCHNAPPER BEACH ROAD URUNGA 2455
Secondary dwelling · lodged 2026-08-10
$450,000
DA2025/00588
23 OLD BRIERFIELD ROAD FERNMOUNT 2454
Subdivision · lodged 2025-09-29
$1,514,236
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Nearby councils: berrigan · blacktown · bland · blayney · blue mountains · bogan · bourke · brewarrina · broken hill · burwood · byron · cabonne — or see DA statistics for all 129 NSW councils.