The City of Gold Coast only displays relevant applications lodged from:

• Development applications lodged from 18 August 2003.
• Referral agency assessments lodged from 1 January 2011.
• Building applications lodged from 1 January 2018.

Development

Includes all applications and requests included in the application type filter:

• Change applications
• Combined applications
• Express development applications
• Final development approval (Robina)
• Material change of use
• Operational works
• OPW vehicle access works
• Prescribed tidal works
• Reconfiguring a lot
• Southport priority development area
• Superseded planning scheme request
• Temporary ground anchors

Referral agency assessment

Includes requests to assess building applications where the City acts as a referral agency:

• Referral agency assessment
• Referral agency assessment express applications
• Referral agency assessment minor

Other

Includes building application and management plans:

• Private certifier archiving
• Amended bilding applications
• Council building certifiers
• Construction management plans
• Environmental management plans
• Maintenance management plans

Use filter options are determined by the type of application group selected. The filter has two levels - a higher level grouping, and sub-categories to enable targeted searches. The use filter may not always return complete results. Some development applications, especially older ones, may not have complete use classifications at lodgement, this may limit the results returned. Important: Development.i does not replace the City’s official property searches. If you are undertaking conveyancing, development or building certification, it is recommended that council’s property searches are undertaken. These property searches may include (but are not limited to) building information searches and planning and development certificates etc.

The date range filter provides the ability to refine results based on a period. The period can be based on the record create date (lodged) or decided date of an application or request.

Disclaimer: Information displayed is current as at closed of business yesterday.

The City of Gold Coast only displays relevant applications lodged from:

• Development applications lodged from 18 August 2003.
• Referral agency assessments lodged from 1 January 2011.
• Building applications lodged from 1 January 2018.

Development applications

Combined application (COM)

Combined applications are two or more of the following application types submitted together:

• Material change of use (MCU)
• Reconfiguring a lot (ROL)
• Operational works – excluding tree works applications (OPW)

Change applications

Minor change (MIN)

• Proposed change does not result in "substantially different development".
• Does not include prohibited development.
• Does not introduce impact assessment where previously code.
• Does not introduce new grounds for assessment by a referral agency.
• Does not introduce a new or additional referral agency.

Other change (OTH)

A change that is substantially different to the original application will be assessed in accordance with section 82 of the Planning Act 2016 (Qld) and the Development Assessment Rules. Assessment timeframes will align with those for a new application and may require public notification of the change.

Extension of time (EXA)

Before a development application approval lapses an extension of the currency period may be applied for.

Express development application (EDA)

Express development application is a fast-tracked development assessment process for low-complexity and low risk applications. The types of applications eligible for assessment under the express development application process are low risk, and are either:

• accepted to code assessment
• code assessment

Applications assessed under the express DA process must meet all eligibility requirements detailed in the express development application – applicant guidelines.

Robina final development approval (FDA)

The Robina Central Planning Agreement (RCPA) grants specific rights under the Local Government (Robina Central Planning Agreement) Act 1992. Development of land within the RCPA is not assessed against Council's City Plan or the Planning Act 2016  but rather against the provisions of the RCPA. Specific land uses are designated for each plan of development area. Defined as "permitted development subject to conditions", these require a FDA, similar to code-assessable application under the City Plan.

Material change of use (MCU)

A material change of use means a change in the way a property is being used. For example, when a block of land with a single dwelling house on it changes to multiple dwellings. This can include a start of a new use of the premises, or re-establishment on premises of a use that has been abandoned, or a material change in the intensity of scale of the use of the premises.

Operational works (OPW)

Examples of operational work include but are not limited to:

• changes to ground level
• clearing trees and vegetation
• landscape works
• constructing a non-standard driveway
• undertaking prescribed tidal works or works in a coastal management district
• providing infrastructure to Council such as:
• stormwater
• water
• sewerage
• roads

Southport priority development area (PDA)

Priority development areas (PDAs) are parcels of land within Queensland identified under the State Government Economic Development Act 2012. The PDA status removes development barriers, increases investment opportunities and helps economic development. The Southport PDA Development Scheme applies to all development on land within the boundary of the PDA and replaces the Southport PDA Interim Land Use Plan.

Reconfiguring a lot (ROL)

Reconfiguring a lot is the process for the creation of new lots by subdividing or rearranging the boundaries of existing lots. Examples of ROL applications include:

• Creating lots by subdividing another lot.
• Amalgamating two or more lots.
• Rearranging boundaries of a lot by registering a plan of subdivision.
• Dividing land into parts by agreement.
• Applying for an access easement.

Request to apply a superseded planning scheme (SUP)

Under the Planning Act 2016, a request can be made to apply a superseded planning scheme to enable a development to be assessed under a superseded planning scheme. This request must be made within one year of the planning scheme being superseded as per the Planning Act 2016.

Temporary ground anchors (TRO)

Temporary ground anchors are commonly used in construction as part of deep excavation works such as basements. A permit must be applied for when the temporary anchors will be on Council owned or controlled land including road reserves

Referral agency assessment (RAA)

Referral agency assessment: Are applications whereby the City acts as a referral agency for the assessment of building applications that may impact specific criteria. Under the Planning Act 2016, City of Gold Coast acts as a referral agency, assessing building applications that deal with:

• boundary setbacks
• site cover
• amenity and aesthetics
• building close to infrastructure.

Types of referral agency assessment applications are:

• Referral agency assessment (RAA)
• Referral agency assessment minor change (RAAMIN)
• Referral agency assessment express (REX)

Building approvals

• Private certifier archiving (PCA)
• Amended building application (BAM)
• Council building certifiers (CBC)

Note: Private certifier applications will display a status of decided or past as these are approved by private certifiers and are archived by the City of Gold Coast.

Management plans

A management plan may be required to comply with conditions imposed on a development approval. These plans are required to consider the management of impacts associated with works undertaken in connection with a development. Management plans are usually required to be approved before building or other works can begin, these may include:

• Construction management plan (CMP) - CMP’s address a range of health, safety, traffic management and amenity issues relating to the construction site and surrounding area.
• Environmental management plan (EMP) - (e.g. acid sulphate, bushfire)
• Maintenance management plan (MMP) - (e.g. open space, stormwater)

Code

A code development application is assessed against the codes identified for the use within the City Plan. These can include use codes, prescribed secondary codes, overlay codes and neighbourhood plan codes. This type of application does not require public notification, therefore does not allow a third party to appeal Council’s decision.

Impact

Impact assessment generally applies to development proposals that may impact on the amenity of adjoining land uses. Impact assessable development must be assessed against Council's City Plan as a whole, to the extent relevant. These applications must be publicly notified to take into account the community's views and provides third party appeal rights to properly made submitters.

Other

For the purpose of Development.i, the "other" category is used to capture any application that has been lodged that did not trigger code or impact assessment under the City Plan.

Disclaimer – levels of assessment for combined applications

Some development applications include more than one type of approval, such as a material change of use (MCU), reconfiguring a lot (ROL), or operational works (OPW).

When these applications were lodged together as a combined application, they were assessed at the highest level of assessment required by any part of the application. This means that if one component required impact assessment, the entire combined application was assessed at that level, even if other components would normally be code assessable.

In Council’s previous system, all parts of a combined application were stored under a single record. In the current system, these applications appear as a primary (“lead”) application, where the assessment occurred, and one or more secondary (“shell”) applications, which are administrative only. The primary application will always show the correct level of assessment.

However, the secondary records may not always display the consistent assessment level, as they did not form part of the formal assessment process.

This practice reflects earlier requirements under the Queensland Planning Provisions and previous versions of the City Plan, which required combined applications to follow the highest assessment level across all components.