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Cowra Shire Council — Development Application Data

A live snapshot of development activity in Cowra 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
866
Since 2021
Lodged last 12m
131
Median assessment
30 days
Clause 4.6 rate
0.6%
Development standard variations

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

Counted from every application Cowra 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
30 days
across 654 determinations
Slowest 20% take
68+ days
the figure worth planning around
Against NSW
-30 days
the NSW median is 60 days
Approved as CDC
26.2%
237 complying development certificates
Who determines applications here
Council (delegation not specified)98.2% · 647
Council staff under delegation1.2% · 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.

0.4% of applications in Cowra Shire Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 0% of those variations were granted (0 of 3). 1.2% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 32.9% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $246,730.

Development type mix

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

Erection of a new structure270
Dwelling house119
Dwelling114
Shed110
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure90
Garages, carports and car parking spaces55
Subdivision53
Other52

Development cost distribution

Estimated development cost ranges reported on Cowra Shire Council DAs.

Under $100k434
$100k – $500k259
$500k – $1M104
$1M – $5M53
$5M+5

Cowra 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 Cowra Shire Council handle?

Plan Advice holds 866 development applications for Cowra Shire Council, 131 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 Cowra Shire Council?

The median assessment time is 30 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 Cowra Shire Council?

The median is 30 days from lodgement to determination across 654 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 68 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 Cowra Shire Council?

1.2% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 98.2%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.

Does Cowra Shire Council approve clause 4.6 variations?

0.4% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 0% of those were granted (0 of 3 in the last 5 years).

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

26.2% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (237 certificates in the last 5 years), and 32.9% 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 Cowra Shire Council?

The most frequent application types are erection of a new structure (270), dwelling house (119), dwelling (114).

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

5 applications — 0.58% 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.

10.2025.13.4
29 FISHBURN STREET COWRA 2794
Dwelling house · lodged 2026-09-17
$1,067,963
10.2026.98.1
167A Porters Mount Road, Cowra
Erection of a new structure · lodged 2026-09-10
$100,000
10.2026.90.1
176 WESTVILLE ROAD WOODSTOCK 2793
Subdivision · lodged 2026-08-27
10.2026.75.1
376 CRANKY ROCK ROAD CANOWINDRA 2804
Subdivision · lodged 2026-08-04
10.2026.84.1
59 KENDAL STREET COWRA 2794
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure · lodged 2026-08-20
$269,906
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Nearby councils: cumberland · dubbo · dungog · edward river · eurobodalla · fairfield · federation · forbes · georges river · gilgandra · glen innes severn · goulburn mulwaree — or see DA statistics for all 129 NSW councils.