By ANNA USHER

Residents will no longer be told when a neighbour lodges plans for some home extensions, swimming pools or demolitions under new state rules now in force.

Every council in NSW, including Mosman, North Sydney and Willoughby, must now follow a single statewide Community Participation Plan, which removes some development applications from public exhibition altogether.

The exemptions only apply if the plans comply with height and floor space limits. Anything that breaks those controls still goes on exhibition.

Mosman Council said the mandate means residents “may not be notified of development next door”.

North Sydney Council said it would no longer send notification letters for a range of DAs up to two storeys, warning “the absence of a notification does not necessarily mean that no development application has been lodged nearby.”

“Council regrets any reduction in notification services or inconvenience resulting from these changes,” North Sydney Council said in a notice published on its website.

Willoughby Council has also told locals it will no longer notify residents about some applications.

What neighbours will not hear about

Houses and dual occupancies up to two storeys, secondary dwellings and attached or multi dwelling housing of up to five homes.

Demolition, tree removal on private land and home alterations or additions (no more than two storeys) are also excluded from public exhibition.

So are pools, sheds, pergolas and carports, along with subdivisions that create no more than five new lots.

Changes to existing approvals for these types of development are also excluded.

Residents can still send feedback to their council, but the plan says it “is not considered a formal submission”.

Residential flat buildings and shop top housing still go on exhibition for a minimum of 14 days, and applications lodged before 1 September and still being assessed stay under the old rules.

Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure secretary Kiersten Fishburn wrote in the plan’s foreword that it “brings consistency to consultation timeframes across NSW”, and her department says it replaces more than 100 community participation plans.

“While some development types may not be publicly exhibited, they are still assessed on their merits,” the plan states, adding that the consent authority must consider issues such as “privacy, overshadowing and heritage significance”.

How to find out what is planned next door

Mosman residents can manually search Council’s online Application Tracker (select “Recently Submitted” to see applications that are not exhibited), or sign up for a weekly email called Development Applications Excluded from Public Exhibition at mosman.nsw.gov.au/news/newsletters.

North Sydney applications remain on Council’s DA tracker, and Council has pointed residents to the third-party Planning Alerts service.

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