We’re on a bit of roll now discussing legislative changes, so here’s another one for you to contemplate over the Christmas break. The Swimming Pools Act 1992 and its Regulations work together with Australian Standard 1926 (AS1926) to establish the safety standards for ‘backyard’ swimming pools. The Swimming Pools Regulation, in particular, was updated in 2018 to clarify a number of matters relating to swimming pool safety. (more…)
The QPR Blog
…local government stuff you never even thought to ask about…
Weeds
What better subject for discussion this month. I don’t know about you, but not having had to take the lawn mower out of the shed (I have one of the manually motivated variety—I don’t have a scythe though, I’m not that manual) for the last two years, I’ve now had to mow three times in almost as many weeks! And that’s just the stuff I’d like to have growing—the stuff I don’t want seems to be growing even faster! (more…)
Building Certification
I’ve written on several occasions about matters relating to building approvals and certifying authorities. With the commencement of the new Building and Development Certifiers Act 2018 (Certifiers Act) and the corresponding Building and Development Certifiers Regulation 2020 (Certifiers Regulation) on 1 July 2020, I thought the subject warranted a brief review. (more…)
Land Ownership
Recent discussion in relation to a mining exploration licence that had been granted in our area prompted a couple of questions relating to property ‘rights’ and land ownership more generally. This is a subject that is perhaps a little beyond the purview of local government but I thought it might be of interest nonetheless. (more…)
Property Access
Perhaps not surprisingly, things on the Council front have been pretty quiet of late, but one of the most common ‘problems’ that I encounter arose yet again just the other day. I think I’ve mentioned previously that a former local councillor and Mayor once said to me that when he writes his account of his civic life, it will be entitled “Barking Dogs and Rights of Way”. I reckon I’ll write a follow-on work entitled “Rights of Way Too”. The most recent issue wasn’t specifically a Right of Way matter—it related primarily to the location of a driveway—but it ended up that way. (more…)
SEPPs
I have referred to the State Environmental Planning Policies (SEPPs) on various occasions in the past, but perhaps never dealt with the subject directly. With the new comprehensive Queanbeyan Palerang Local Environmental Plan (QPLEP) on the verge of completion I thought some further discussion might be of interest. (more…)
Minimum Lot Sizes
There have been a couple of situations recently that revolve around subdivision lot sizes, a key element of the subdivision potential of a parcel of land—a dwelling cannot be constructed on just any parcel of land. In some cases, however, size is not all that counts. (more…)
Dual Occupancy Developments and
Secondary Dwellings
Long-time followers of my ramblings may recognise this subject from years gone by. Interestingly, it last came up in the context of the development of the Palerang LEP and so it is that it comes to the fore again as the new consolidated Queanbeyan-Palerang LEP is being finalised. (more…)
Community Title
This is not something that comes up very often in rural residential areas, but community title rural residential developments do exist in our LGA. The structure of Community or Strata Schemes is such that they are often described as ‘the fourth level of government’ and anyone who has ever been involved with the management of such a scheme will understand why. (more…)
Planning Proposals
There’s been some discussion over the years about land use planning, in our rural residential areas in particular. With the public exhibition of our new ‘consolidated’ LEP imminent, I thought I’d follow up on some of my previous articles on the NSW planning system with a brief discussion on the process involved in changing a planning instrument such as a Local Environmental Plan (LEP). (more…)