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Lake Macquarie City Council — Development Application Data

A live snapshot of development activity in Lake Macquarie 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
14,730
Since 2021
Lodged last 12m
2,020
Median assessment
49 days
Clause 4.6 rate
1.6%
Development standard variations

How long a DA takes in Lake Macquarie City Council, and who decides it

Counted from every application Lake Macquarie 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
49 days
across 10,710 determinations
Slowest 20% take
120+ days
the figure worth planning around
Against NSW
-11 days
the NSW median is 60 days
Approved as CDC
33%
5,466 complying development certificates
Who determines applications here
Council (delegation not specified)50.7% · 5,474
Council staff under delegation48.4% · 5,226

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.

1.6% of applications in Lake Macquarie City Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 80.6% of those variations were granted (145 of 180). 3.3% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 16% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $295,718.

Development type mix

What people are building in Lake Macquarie City Council. Ranked by DA volume.

Erection of a new structure3,846
Dwelling house2,824
Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure2,233
Dwelling2,116
Alterations and additions to residential development1,540
Demolition1,509
Pools / decks / fencing1,349
Garages, carports and car parking spaces987

Development cost distribution

Estimated development cost ranges reported on Lake Macquarie City Council DAs.

Under $100k6,858
$100k – $500k4,255
$500k – $1M2,359
$1M – $5M886
$5M+211

Lake Macquarie 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 Lake Macquarie City Council handle?

Plan Advice holds 14,730 development applications for Lake Macquarie City Council, 2,020 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 Lake Macquarie City Council?

The median assessment time is 49 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 Lake Macquarie City Council?

The median is 49 days from lodgement to determination across 10,710 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 120 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 Lake Macquarie City Council?

48.4% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 50.7%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.

Does Lake Macquarie City Council approve clause 4.6 variations?

1.6% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 80.6% of those were granted (145 of 180 in the last 5 years).

Can I use a CDC instead of a DA in Lake Macquarie City Council?

33% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (5,466 certificates in the last 5 years), and 16% 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 Lake Macquarie City Council?

The most frequent application types are erection of a new structure (3,846), dwelling house (2,824), alterations or additions to an existing building or structure (2,233).

How often is a clause 4.6 variation used in Lake Macquarie City Council?

239 applications — 1.62% 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-676477
32 VERONICA STREET CARDIFF 2285
Commercial development · lodged 2026-09-17
$238,205
PAN-676403
16 FIFTH STREET SEAHAMPTON 2286
Demolition · lodged 2026-09-17
$276,000
PAN-676296
31 VISTA PARADE BELMONT 2280
Demolition · lodged 2026-09-17
$370,700
PAN-676251
8 ALBURY STREET DUDLEY 2290
Demolition · lodged 2026-09-17
$540,125
PAN-675104
1 THIRD STREET CARDIFF SOUTH 2285
Shed · lodged 2026-09-17
$42,100
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Nearby councils: lane cove · leeton · lismore · lithgow · liverpool · liverpool plains · lockhart · maitland · mid coast · mid western · moree plains · mosman — or see DA statistics for all 129 NSW councils.