Burwood Council — Development Application Data
Development applications in Burwood Council move at a measured pace, with a median assessment time of 58 days across 450 DAs lodged in the past year. One in six applications rely on Clause 4.6 variations to exceed development standards—a 16.13% usage rate that signals tighter planning controls in this inner-west location. The council's DA profile tilts toward smaller-scale work, with 496 applications valued under $100k and 201 alterations and additions projects dominating the pipeline. More substantial proposals still flow through regularly, including 59 residential flat buildings and 97 developments exceeding $5 million. With 1128 DAs on file since 2021, Burwood Council processes a steady volume of applications across a compact local government area where site constraints and heritage considerations frequently shape outcomes. A Plan Advice AI-powered assessment for your Burwood Council property delivers planning insights in seconds.
How long a DA takes in Burwood Council, and who decides it
Counted from every application Burwood 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.
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.
18.3% of applications in Burwood Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 14.2% of those variations were granted (18 of 127). 10.8% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 15.4% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $440,635.
Development type mix
What people are building in Burwood Council. Ranked by DA volume.
Development cost distribution
Estimated development cost ranges reported on Burwood Council DAs.
Burwood 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 Burwood Council handle?
Plan Advice holds 1,151 development applications for Burwood Council, 456 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 Burwood Council?
The median assessment time is 58 days for FY25-26, after a median 13 days to get the application accepted for lodgement. 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 Burwood Council?
The median is 77 days from lodgement to determination across 647 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 182 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 Burwood Council?
42.3% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 43.5%, local planning panel determined 7.3%, land and environment court determined 2.5%, regional or sydney planning panel determined 1.3%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.
Does Burwood Council approve clause 4.6 variations?
18.3% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 14.2% of those were granted (18 of 127 in the last 5 years).
Can I use a CDC instead of a DA in Burwood Council?
66% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (1,348 certificates in the last 5 years), and 15.4% 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 Burwood Council?
The most frequent application types are alterations & additions (203), dual occupancy (63), residential flat building (59).
How often is a clause 4.6 variation used in Burwood Council?
183 applications — 15.9% 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.
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