Council accepts the lodgement of development applications online via the NSW Department of Planning, Infrastructure and Environment's Planning Portal.

To lodge an application via the Planning Portal you must register for an account. To register visit the Planning Portal.

For guidance in relation to registering for an account and lodging an application online please see the Department's How to Guides.

Please note:

• From 1 July 2020 a record keeping fee will be charged for applications that are not lodged online through the Planning Portal.
• The NSW Government has mandated that from the 31st of December 2020 all development and modification applications must be lodged online via the NSW Planning Portal.

Prior to submitting your application please ensure that you have read the Preparing your Development Application page and that your application provides the information and documents required by Section 50 and Schedule 1 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000.

Pre-Lodgement vetting

Once you submit your application the application will be vetted to ensure that it meets the requirements for lodgement.

Section 50 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 specifies how a development application must be made. Schedule 1 to this section lists the information that an applicant must submit with their application before it can be accepted by Council.

For further assistance with preparing a development application please see the Preparing your Development Application page.

After your application has been checked and it has been decided that it is suitable for lodgement you will be required to pay the associated fees. The relevant fees are set out in Council's adopted Fees and Charges. The application is not taken to be lodged until such time as all required information has been supplied and required fees have been paid. 

Rejection of applications

​Please note that Council can reject applications under the provisions of Section 51 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 within 14 days after receiving it if:

• the application is illegible or unclear as to the development consent sought, or
  
• the application does not contain any information, or is not accompanied by any document, specified in Part 1 of Schedule 1 of the Regulation, or
• where the application is not accompanied by an environmental impact statement (when required to be), or
• being an application for development requiring concurrence, the application fails to include the concurrence fees appropriate for each concurrence relevant to the development, or
•  being an application for integrated development, the application fails:
  
• to identify all of the approvals referred to in section 4.46 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 that are required to be obtained before the development may be carried out, or
• to include the approval fees appropriate for each approval relevant to the development, or
• to include the additional information required by this Regulation in relation to the development, or
• being an application that is required under Part 7 of the Biodiversity Conservation Act 2016 to be accompanied by a biodiversity development assessment report, the application is not accompanied by such a report, or
• being an application that is required under 221ZW of the Fisheries Management Act 1994 to be accompanied by a species impact statement, the application is not accompanied by such a statement.

An application is taken, for the purposes of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979, to have never been made if it is rejected under this Section. 

Submitting additional information after your application has been accepted

​When providing additional information for applications please email this information to Council at coffs.council@chcc.nsw.gov.au. Please ensure that the email and attached information references the relevant application number (provided to you on lodgement of the application). For more information about providing additional information, please visit the Development Assessment Process page.