For Tasmanian developers

Permitted or discretionary decides the deal

In Tasmania the difference between meeting an Acceptable Solution and relying on a Performance Criterion is the difference between a straightforward approval and a notified, appealable one.

Where Tasmania catches people out

You treat the Acceptable Solution as a guideline

Meeting every Acceptable Solution can keep a use permitted. Relying on a Performance Criterion moves it to discretionary, which brings notification, third-party representations and appeal rights with it. That is a programme and risk decision, not a design detail.

You read the State Planning Provisions and stop

The SPPs are half the scheme. The council's Local Provisions Schedule applies the zones and codes to the land and carries the local specifics, and it is where the site-particular answer lives.

Codes are treated as secondary to the zone

The overlay codes — bushfire, landslip, coastal, heritage, waterway and road interfaces — apply independently of the zone and frequently drive the assessment, the referrals and the consultant spend.

Getting started

Run the free snapshot across the shortlist. Knowing which standards you can meet outright — and which you would be arguing — is the single most useful thing to establish before you commit.

General information about the Tasmania planning system, not advice on a particular site. What applies to a property depends on its zone, the controls affecting it and what is proposed.