Most requests for information (RFIs) and refusals on house, duplex and granny flat DAs in Western Sydney trace back to a short list of causes: stormwater with no lawful discharge point, unjustified departures from the DCP, overshadowing and privacy that were never analysed, tree removal without an arborist report, flood or bushfire constraints that were not addressed, and a document set that contradicts itself. A good Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE) does not make those problems disappear, but it forces them to be found and dealt with before lodgement, which is the only time they are cheap to fix.
Key takeaways
- An RFI pauses the statutory assessment clock and, in our experience, adds one to three months to a Western Sydney DA.
- Stormwater disposal is the most common technical trigger for RFIs on duplexes and granny flats in Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool and Fairfield.
- Councils rarely refuse a DA for a single DCP departure; refusals usually follow several unaddressed issues or a fundamental problem such as flood or lot size.
- The SEE is the place to disclose and justify every departure, because an unexplained departure is read as an unnoticed one.
- A pre-lodgement consistency check across the plans, survey, BASIX, stormwater and landscape drawings removes most administrative RFIs.
How an RFI happens, and why it costs so much time
When a council planner in Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool, Camden, Campbelltown, Fairfield or Cumberland picks up a DA, they work through the LEP, the DCP and the section 4.15 matters and log every point where the application does not give them what they need. Those points become a single letter, the request for information, and the statutory clock stops until you answer it. If the answer is incomplete, a second letter follows. Two RFIs on a duplex can turn a four-month assessment into eight.
Refusal is different. A refusal usually means the applicant did not respond to the RFI, the issue could not be designed out (a flood planning level, a minimum lot size for subdivision, a heritage item), or the application was so far from the controls that the planner could not write a supporting report.
The mistakes we see most often
1. Stormwater with nowhere to go
Blocks that fall away from the street are everywhere in Seven Hills, Toongabbie, St Marys and Canley Vale. A rear-draining lot needs an interallotment drainage easement through the neighbour, a council pipe in a rear lane, or an approved alternative where the council’s engineering specification allows it. A stormwater concept that just shows an arrow to the rear boundary gets an RFI every time. Blacktown and Penrith also require on-site detention for most new dwellings and duplexes, and the concept plan must show the storage and discharge control. Our sister company Contrive Consultants prepares the civil and OSD design, and the SEE should summarise the discharge point in plain terms.
2. Departures that were not disclosed
A duplex with a 4.5 metre front setback where Blacktown DCP 2015 asks for more, a first floor side setback of 900 millimetres where the control is larger, a site coverage a few per cent over. None of these is fatal on its own. What triggers the RFI is that the SEE said “complies” or said nothing. Planners check the numbers themselves, and a departure they find that the applicant did not mention undermines trust in the whole document. The SEE should list every departure and justify each against the objective of the control.
3. Amenity impacts never analysed
Two-storey duplexes on east-west lots in Penrith, Liverpool and Fairfield routinely overshadow the southern neighbour. When the DA arrives with no shadow diagrams, or with diagrams but no interpretation of them, the planner either asks for them or, after a neighbour objection, has to assume the worst. The same applies to first-floor windows and rear balconies looking into neighbouring yards. Both problems are cheap to address at sketch stage and expensive after notification.
4. Trees treated as an afterthought
Older suburbs in Cumberland and Fairfield carry mature trees, and the Cumberland Plain woodland around Blacktown, Penrith and Liverpool carries mapped vegetation under State Environmental Planning Policy (Biodiversity and Conservation) 2021. A DA that removes a tree, or builds within its tree protection zone, without an arborist report to AS 4970-2009 will be asked for one. On some sites the biodiversity values map triggers a much larger assessment.
5. Flood and bushfire not addressed
Large parts of Penrith, Hawkesbury, Fairfield, Liverpool and Camden sit on flood planning maps, and the fringes of the Hills, Wollondilly, the Blue Mountains and the South West Growth Area are bushfire prone. A granny flat in Emu Plains or Chipping Norton on flood-affected land needs the finished floor level shown against the flood planning level and a response to the LEP flood clause. A dual occupancy on bushfire prone land in Kellyville or Silverdale needs a bushfire assessment under Planning for Bush Fire Protection 2019 with the bushfire attack level stated. The section 10.7(2) certificate tells you if either applies. Ignoring it is the fastest route to an RFI, and on a flood control lot it can be the route to refusal.
6. Documents that contradict each other
This is the administrative RFI, and the one we see most. The BASIX certificate carries a different floor area from the plans. The survey shows a tree the site plan omits. The SEE quotes a height of 8.4 metres and the elevations scale at 8.9. Councils run a completeness check at lodgement, and inconsistencies either bounce the application or become the first item in the RFI.
RFI or refusal: what tips the balance
| Issue | Usually an RFI | Can lead to refusal |
|---|---|---|
| Stormwater | Missing OSD detail, unclear discharge point | No lawful discharge point and no easement obtainable |
| DCP departures | One or two, disclosed and arguable | Several, undisclosed, with amenity impacts on neighbours |
| Flood | Floor levels not shown against the flood planning level | Habitable floor below the flood planning level on a flood control lot |
| Subdivision | Lot dimensions or frontage not dimensioned | Lots below the LEP minimum lot size with no clause 4.6 request |
| Trees and biodiversity | No arborist report | Removal of mapped vegetation without the required assessment |
How the SEE heads these off
A council-ready SEE is written after the constraints are known, not before. In practice that means our planners read the section 10.7(2) certificate, the survey and the council mapping first, then check the design against the LEP and DCP, then write. The SEE that results does four things an RFI-prone one does not:
- It names every constraint on the site and points to the report that deals with it.
- It tabulates every LEP standard and DCP control with the requirement and the proposal side by side, and flags departures rather than hiding them.
- It interprets the shadow diagrams, the privacy treatments and the stormwater concept in words the planner can lift into their own report.
- It cross-checks the plans, survey, BASIX, stormwater and landscape drawings for consistency before anything is uploaded.
Blacktown’s Plan and build pages and the equivalent pages on the Penrith City Council site set out each council’s lodgement requirements, and the SEE should be written against that list.
When the RFI has already arrived
An RFI is not a refusal. The most effective response answers every point in the order asked, provides amended drawings where requested, and explains any point you are not changing with reference to the control’s objective. Partial responses generate second letters. If the RFI raises a problem that cannot be solved, withdrawing and relodging is better than drifting to refusal, because a refusal sits on the property record. Our RFI response service handles this stage.
Frequently asked questions
What is an RFI in a development application?
A request for information is a letter from the council asking for additional documents, amended plans or clarification before it can finish assessing the DA. The statutory assessment clock pauses until the information is provided.
Why do councils in Western Sydney refuse DAs?
The common grounds are an unresolved technical issue such as flood or stormwater, non-compliance with a development standard without a clause 4.6 request, multiple unjustified DCP departures with real amenity impacts, or failure to respond to an RFI. Single minor departures rarely lead to refusal on their own.
Does a refused DA affect the property?
A refusal is recorded against the property and is visible to future purchasers and to council on any later application. You can seek a review of the determination under section 8.2 or appeal to the Land and Environment Court, but the better path is to avoid the refusal.
URBA prepares the Statement of Environmental Effects for houses, duplexes, granny flats and townhouses across Western Sydney with the constraints and departures dealt with up front, and we respond to RFIs when they land. If you have a project in Blacktown, Penrith, Liverpool, Camden or anywhere in the west, send us the address and plans and we will provide a fee proposal.