Shellharbour City Council — Development Application Data
Shellharbour City Council processes a substantial volume of development applications with 1974 lodged in the last 12 months from a total of 4717 on file since 2021, yet maintains a notably low Clause 4.6 variation request rate of just 0.83%—among the lowest reliance on development standard variations across coastal NSW councils. The median assessment time sits at 58 days, giving applicants a clear timeframe for decision-making. Development activity here leans heavily toward the Other category at 3329 applications, followed by dual occupancy projects at 419 and alterations and additions at 352. Cost distribution shows balanced activity across bands, with 1420 applications under $100k, 1456 between $100k and $500k, and 1194 in the $500k to $1M range, while 500 projects fall between $1M and $5M. If you're considering a development application in Shellharbour City Council, a Plan Advice AI-powered assessment for your property takes seconds to run.
Determination outcomes
Real approval, refusal and withdrawal rates from finalised DAs in the Plan Advice enriched corpus.
Based on the 98% of DAs in our Shellharbour City Council corpus with a confirmed determination. Applications still under assessment, and any whose outcome the council has not published, are excluded rather than estimated.
How long a DA takes in Shellharbour City Council, and who decides it
Counted from every application Shellharbour 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.
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.
0.7% of applications in Shellharbour City Council sought a clause 4.6 variation to a development standard, and 231.8% of those variations were granted (51 of 22). 3.4% of DAs lodged were withdrawn before a determination was made. On the CDC side, 15.6% of certificates lodged were rejected rather than accepted, at an average declared cost of $425,196.
Development type mix
What people are building in Shellharbour City Council. Ranked by DA volume.
Development cost distribution
Estimated development cost ranges reported on Shellharbour City Council DAs.
Shellharbour 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 Shellharbour City Council handle?
Plan Advice holds 4,834 development applications for Shellharbour City Council, 2,031 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 Shellharbour City Council?
The median assessment time is 58 days for FY25-26, after a median 4 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 Shellharbour City Council?
The median is 47 days from lodgement to determination across 3,261 applications determined in the last 5 years, and the slowest fifth take 110 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 Shellharbour City Council?
23.4% of determinations were made by council staff under delegated authority. council (delegation not specified) determined 74.4%. Anything referred to a panel or the elected body is decided in a public meeting, which adds a meeting cycle.
Does Shellharbour City Council approve clause 4.6 variations?
0.7% of applications sought a variation to a development standard, and 231.8% of those were granted (51 of 22 in the last 5 years).
Can I use a CDC instead of a DA in Shellharbour City Council?
41.6% of approvals in this LGA went through as complying development (2,400 certificates in the last 5 years), and 15.6% 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 share of DAs does Shellharbour City Council approve?
80.3% of the 2,725 determined applications we hold were approved and 1% were refused. We can read a determination for 98% of this council's DAs; the rest are counted as unknown rather than assumed approved.
What kinds of development are most common in Shellharbour City Council?
The most frequent application types are dual occupancy (424), alterations & additions (359), subdivision (257).
How often is a clause 4.6 variation used in Shellharbour City Council?
40 applications — 0.83% 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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