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Coffs Harbour City Council — Development Application Data

A live snapshot of development activity in Coffs Harbour City 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
6,717
Since 2021
Lodged last 12m
881
Median assessment
38 days
Clause 4.6 rate
0.9%
Development standard variations

How long a DA takes in Coffs Harbour City Council, and who decides it

Counted from every application Coffs Harbour City 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
38 days
across 4,503 determinations
Slowest 20% take
96+ days
the figure worth planning around
Against NSW
-22 days
the NSW median is 60 days
Approved as CDC
16.1%
878 complying development certificates
Who determines applications here
Council (delegation not specified)53.4% · 2,428
Council staff under delegation45.7% · 2,079

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.

0.8% of applications in Coffs Harbour City Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 133.3% of those variations were granted (48 of 36). 4.9% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 36.2% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $324,227.

Development type mix

What people are building in Coffs Harbour City Council. Ranked by DA volume.

Erection of a new structure1,354
Dwelling house1,119
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure1,057
Dwelling799
Alterations and additions to residential development722
Pools / decks / fencing680
Shed580
Residential Accommodation438

Development cost distribution

Estimated development cost ranges reported on Coffs Harbour City Council DAs.

Under $100k3,751
$100k – $500k1,767
$500k – $1M717
$1M – $5M341
$5M+84

Coffs Harbour City 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 Coffs Harbour City Council handle?

Plan Advice holds 6,717 development applications for Coffs Harbour City Council, 881 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 Coffs Harbour City Council?

The median assessment time is 38 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 Coffs Harbour City Council?

The median is 38 days from lodgement to determination across 4,503 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 96 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 Coffs Harbour City Council?

45.7% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 53.4%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.

Does Coffs Harbour City Council approve clause 4.6 variations?

0.8% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 133.3% of those were granted (48 of 36 in the last 5 years).

Can I use a CDC instead of a DA in Coffs Harbour City Council?

16.1% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (878 certificates in the last 5 years), and 36.2% 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 Coffs Harbour City Council?

The most frequent application types are erection of a new structure (1,354), dwelling house (1,119), alterations or additions to an existing building or structure (1,057).

How often is a clause 4.6 variation used in Coffs Harbour City Council?

59 applications — 0.88% 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-676323
MORGANS ROAD SANDY BEACH 2456
Erection of a new structure · lodged 2026-09-17
$132,741
PAN-676233
2 CAMPBELL STREET CORINDI BEACH 2456
Erection of a new structure · lodged 2026-09-17
$99,000
PAN-676096
6 CORAMBARA CRESCENT TOORMINA 2452
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure · lodged 2026-09-17
$50,000
PAN-675642
8 DOMAIN DRIVE COFFS HARBOUR 2450
Demolition · lodged 2026-09-17
$5,130,000
PAN-675129
263E-263F SHEPHARDS LANE KARANGI 2450
Subdivision · lodged 2026-09-17
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Nearby councils: coolamon · coonamble · cootamundra gundagai · city of sydney · cowra · cumberland · dubbo · dungog · edward river · eurobodalla · fairfield · federation — or see DA statistics for all 129 NSW councils.