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DA Application · South Australia

Guide 2 of 5 · Who is told

Public notice and representations on a South Australian application

Public notice depends on the pathway. The top three layers of the stack can be publicly notified, each in its own way; the bottom three are not. This guide follows the Act’s words for each.

The six pathways, top to bottom. Read for this page: who is told

  1. Impact assessedimpact assessed
    The public: the EIS is open for inspection and published on the SA planning portal, and written submissions are invited.
  2. Restrictedimpact assessed
    Owners or occupiers of adjacent land, others the Commission finds directly affected to a significant degree, any prescribed class, and the public generally.
  3. Performance assessedcode assessed
    Owners or occupiers of adjacent land, and the public by a notice on the land, unless a decision under a practice direction says otherwise.
  4. Deemed-to-satisfycode assessed
    No one: consent is granted without public notification.
  5. Accepted
    No planning consent is required, so there is no planning notice.
  6. Exempt
    No approval is needed.

In South Australia only the higher pathways are publicly notified. A deemed-to-satisfy consent is granted with no notification or submissions at all; a performance assessed application is notified to the owners or occupiers of adjacent land and by a notice on the site, subject to a decision made under a practice direction; restricted development is notified to the public generally as well. A project the Minister assesses as impact assessed has its Environmental Impact Statement opened to public inspection instead.

General informationThis guide sets out the notice rules in the Act. It is not advice about any application or representation. PlanSA lists the developments on public notice, and is the official place to check one.

Who counts as a neighbour

Notice in both the performance assessed and restricted pathways goes to the owner or occupier of each piece of adjacent land. The Act defines the term by distance, not by a shared fence:

“adjacent land in relation to other land, means land that is no more than 60 metres from the other land”

Section 3(1)

So notice can reach land that shares no boundary with the site, as long as it lies within that distance.

Performance assessed: notice, representations, a response

PlanSA says performance assessed developments may involve public notification or referrals as part of their assessment. Section 107(3) sets the steps, and they run in this order:

  1. Notice is given. Subject to a relevant authority’s decision made in accordance with a practice direction, notice of the application goes, in line with the regulations, to an owner or occupier of each piece of adjacent land, and to the public by a notice placed on the land.

  2. Representations are made. A person may make a representation to the relevant authority about granting or refusing consent, within the period the regulations prescribe.

  3. The applicant sees them. The authority sends the applicant a copy of each representation received in time.

  4. The applicant responds. The applicant may answer the representations within the prescribed period.

PlanSA’s timeframe table allows 15 business days for public notification and 15 business days for the applicant’s response within the 70 business days it gives a notified performance assessed application. For a notified performance assessed application, PlanSA names an assessment panel or SCAP as the relevant authority; an assessment manager decides performance assessed development that is not publicly notified.

Two limits apply. Both the notice and any representation are confined to the performance based elements of the development assessed on their merits, and the authority limits what it considers in the same way. A representation that does not meet a requirement of the regulations need not be taken into account. The Code may also switch off or modify these notice rules for a specified class of development.

Restricted: wider notice, and a chance to be heard

Section 110(2) casts the net wider. Notice of a restricted application goes, in line with the regulations, to:

  • Adjacent land: an owner or occupier of each piece of it.
  • Others directly affected: any other owner or occupier of land the Commission decides would be directly affected to a significant degree if the development went ahead.
  • A prescribed class: any other person of a class the regulations prescribe.
  • The public generally, including by a notice placed on the land.

Anyone interested may then make a representation to the Commission within the prescribed period, and the applicant receives a copy and may respond. A person who said in their representation that they want to appear must be given a reasonable opportunity to be heard by the Commission, in person or by a representative, and the applicant may then ask to appear and reply. At least 5 business days before such a hearing, the application, its documents and any report prepared for the Commission must be published on the SA planning portal, free to inspect and download.

Once the Commission decides, each person who made a representation is told of the decision, its date and their appeal rights, and the Court is given the decision with the names and addresses of those who made representations. PlanSA’s table allows 20 business days for notification and 15 for the applicant’s response, within 95 business days in all.

Impact assessed: the EIS in public

For a project the Minister assesses, the public sees the Environmental Impact Statement rather than a notice of the application. Once the EIS is prepared, section 113(5) requires the Minister to:

  • refer it to the relevant council or councils and any prescribed body for comment, and to the Environment Protection Authority where the project involves a prescribed activity of environmental significance;
  • make copies available for public inspection and purchase for at least the period the Commission’s practice direction sets, give public notice of that, and invite written submissions;
  • publish a copy on the SA planning portal.

The proponent receives the submissions and writes a response, which is published on the portal. The Chief Executive then prepares an Assessment Report, tells each person who made a written submission that it is available, and publishes it.

What a representation leads to

Restricted

A person entitled to notice of the Commission’s decision may appeal to the ERD Court, within 15 business days after the date of the decision.

Accepted and code assessed

An owner or occupier of the site or of adjacent land who can show an interest may ask the Court to review only the decision about which category the development falls into.

The full set of routes, with their time limits, is in the guide to reviews and appeals under section 202. Who receives the application in the first place is in who decides.