New house in The Hills Shire: DCP 2012 controls for your SEE

A new house in The Hills Shire is assessed by The Hills Shire Council against The Hills Local Environmental Plan 2019, which sets maximum building height and floor space ratio by map, and The Hills Development Control Plan 2012, whose Part B Section 2 Residential sets the setbacks, site coverage, private open space, cut and fill and garage controls. A statement of environmental effects for a Hills DA has to quote both, show the numbers for your lot and explain any variation. This guide is for home owners in Castle Hill, Kellyville, Baulkham Hills, Bella Vista, Box Hill, North Kellyville and the rural-residential fringe who want to know what the council planner will check before they sign off a design.

Who this is for: home owners planning a new house or knock-down rebuild in The Hills Shire who want to check a design against the DCP 2012 and LEP 2019 controls before lodging, and to know what the SEE must contain.

What do The Hills LEP 2019 height and FSR maps allow?

Clause 4.3(2) of The Hills Local Environmental Plan 2019 provides that the height of a building is not to exceed the maximum shown on the Height of Buildings Map, and clause 4.4(2) provides that floor space ratio is not to exceed the figure on the Floor Space Ratio Map. Clause 4.5 defines FSR as the gross floor area of all buildings on the site divided by the site area. The clause text contains no number; the maps carry them, and they differ between the established R2 suburbs, the Kellyville and Rouse Hill release areas, the Box Hill precincts and the C4 Environmental Living land around Glenorie, Kenthurst and Dural. Most established R2 land carries a two-storey height limit and an FSR in the order of 0.5:1, but that is a generalisation to verify on the NSW Planning Portal spatial viewer or the section 10.7 certificate for your lot.

What does The Hills DCP 2012 require for setbacks?

Section 2.14.1 of Part B Section 2 Residential sets the building setbacks for dwellings. The primary road setback is 10 metres on most established residential land, with a table of areas where a lesser primary setback applies: 7.5 metres in West Pennant Hills Valley, Bingara Crescent and Crestwood and Kings Road, and 6 metres in Bella Vista Residential, with the Kellyville and Rouse Hill Development Area governed by its own precinct controls. Side setbacks are 900 mm from wall to boundary and 675 mm from eave to boundary for one and two storey dwellings, increasing to 1.5 metres and 1,175 mm for a three storey element. Rear setbacks are 4 metres for a single storey element and 6 metres for two and three storey elements; a dwelling backing onto a classified road needs 6 and 8 metres respectively, and battle-axe lots apply the 4 and 6 metre setbacks to three sides only.

Site coverage, private open space and landscaping

Section 2.14.2 sets the maximum site coverage in residential zones at 60 per cent, except on C4 Environmental Living land and land shaded pink on the DCP map sheets, where it is 30 per cent. The DCP counts all impervious area, including driveways, patios, pools, decks and tennis courts, and the dwelling footprint itself is capped within that figure. Section 2.14.4 requires private open space behind the front building line of 20 per cent of the lot area or 80 square metres, whichever is greater, able to contain a rectangle of 6 by 4 metres, contiguous with the primary living areas and not directly overlooked. We ask designers for an itemised site coverage calculation on the site plan.

What does the DCP say about cut and fill on sloping lots?

Section 2.14.7 Cut and Fill is the control that most often needs a considered answer in a Hills SEE. Building siting and design must consider the topography, and where cut and fill is necessary it must be balanced so that no fill leaves the site. Where plans show fill in excess of 600 mm, and provided the fill does not exceed 1.5 metres, council imposes a condition requiring a concealed dropped edge beam to contain the fill above 600 mm. Where fill exceeds 1.5 metres the applicant is asked to amend the design. Excavation in excess of 1 metre may be permitted subject to no adverse effect on adjoining owners and structural engineer’s details of retaining walls with the DA. The submission requirement is explicit: details of the exact amount and extent of excavation and filling on the site. Clause 7.2 of the LEP separately requires council to consider drainage patterns, soil stability, fill quality and source and adjoining amenity before consenting to earthworks, so a slab pushed onto a 2 metre cross-fall fails both tests; split-level or suspended floors with cut and fill shown on sections are what the planner expects.

Garages and streetscape: how council reads the front elevation

The streetscape and garage controls in Part B Section 2 are performance based but specific. Garages must not dominate the street elevation, and the DCP lists criteria to be used in combination: garage doors divided by a vertical masonry pillar, an upper floor element projected forward of the garage, colours and textures that reduce the door’s prominence, a verandah or pergola across the face of the garage, garage entrances oriented away from the primary street, and staggered garages. Triple garages are not supported unless one garage is set back from the adjoining two.

How to prepare a Hills SEE that gets through first time

1. Obtain a detail and level survey with levels to AHD and neighbouring windows and ridges; the DCP requires finished floor levels related to a datum at the gutter invert.
2. Confirm the mapped height and FSR on the Planning Portal and check whether the lot is in a listed setback precinct, a pink-shaded 30 per cent coverage area, a bushfire prone area or a flood controlled area under Part C Section 6.
3. Have the designer draw setbacks, site coverage, private open space and cut and fill onto the site plan and sections, itemised, so the numbers can be tabled.
4. Prepare the BASIX certificate, stormwater concept, landscape plan and waste management plan to the council’s DA checklist.
5. Write the SEE with an LEP compliance table, a DCP table quoting the section 2.14 controls and a justification for any variation against the DCP objective.

Definitions

Floor space ratio (FSR)

The ratio of gross floor area of all buildings on a site to the site area, defined in clause 4.5 of The Hills LEP 2019 and shown by map under clause 4.4.

Site coverage

Under The Hills DCP 2012, the proportion of the lot covered by impervious area including buildings, driveways, patios, pools and decks, capped at 60 per cent in most residential zones.

Private open space

Usable outdoor space behind the front building line for the dwelling’s occupants, required by section 2.14.4 to be at least 20 per cent of the lot or 80 square metres.

Clause 4.6 request

A written request to vary an LEP development standard such as height or FSR, lodged with the DA.

URBA prepares statements of environmental effects for new houses and knock-down rebuilds across The Hills Shire, with the LEP and DCP compliance tables the council’s planners expect and a cut and fill justification written to section 2.14.7. See our town planner for The Hills page and our SEE service, or request a fee proposal for your site.