It appears that there are no current provisions in the Lane Cove Municipality for applicants to seek a preliminary meeting and receive guidance from Council officers before lodging their formal DA. Some other Councils provide for such meetings and preliminary advice.

While recognising that preliminary meetings would impose a cost on Council, we feel that they may be cost-effective in saving both the applicant and Council money later on through eliminating re-submissions and other problems later on. Payment of a fee may be appropriate to cover Council costs.

2. There is a general view that Council's requirements for the Applicant's 'Statement of Environmental Effects' are not sufficiently prescriptive. As a consequence, many of the Statements submitted with DAs are inadequate.

It may be helpful if applicants are required to complete a checklist including, amongst other things, statements of compliance with key code requirements.

3. In many cases plans submitted with DAs lack key dimensions, particularly those defining the exact position of new structures on the applicant's site. Council's requirements in this respect should be made more clear.

4. We suggest that Council should not accept and start processing formal DA material until it has been checked for completeness, including adequacy dimensioned drawings and the 'Statement of Environmental Effects'. If the material is not adequate, the applicant should be asked within 7 days to re-submit an amended and complete DA and "stop the clock" provisions implemented.

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