Development applications in the Northern Territory

Who the consent authority is

The Act establishes the Development Consent Authority, and the Minister can set up Divisions of it by notice in the Gazette, each for an area of the Territory. Where a Division covers the land, the Division is the consent authority; where none does, the Minister is.

Before the Authority has served its decision on a particular application, the Minister can direct that the Minister will be the consent authority for it. NTCAT cannot review the Minister’s decision on an application the Minister has taken over in that way.

The part of an Authority meeting where evidence is taken on an application is open to the public and the applicant, unless the Chair closes it to the public for confidentiality or order. The deliberations are not open.

What the application holds

An application is made in the approved form with the prescribed fee. It can be lodged electronically, but it is not considered until the fee is paid. Section 46 then lists what it contains. For most applications that means:

• names and contact details for the applicant, anyone the application is made for, the owner of the land, and anyone who has agreed to acquire an interest in it
• an assessment of how the development will comply with the planning scheme for the land, and with any interim development control order
• a statement of whether the development must be referred to the NT EPA under the Environment Protection Act 2019, and whether it has been
• an assessment of the development’s merits
• a description of the land’s physical characteristics, and an assessment of its suitability and of the development’s effect on it and on other land
• statements on the public facilities, open space, utilities and infrastructure in the area, and what the developer will provide
• assessments of the effect on the area’s amenity, now and in future, and of the benefit or harm to the public interest.

Some cases need more, such as a building certifier’s report for a subdivision of land with a building on it, and regulations can let some classes of application contain less. The consent authority can reject an application that lacks the required information, or ask for more; the applicant then has 30 days, or longer if allowed, and can ask in writing, with reasons, for an extension. An application can be rejected if the information does not arrive in time.

Public notice and submissions

1. Notice.

   Before deciding, the consent authority gives public notice of the application, or directs the applicant in writing to give it. The notice says an application has been made, gives its details and invites written submissions within a stated period. Copies of the application are made available to the public.

2. The submission period.

   The minimum is 14 days, or 28 days for developments prescribed by regulation, counted from the later of the day written notice is given and the day any sign is posted. An application solely to consolidate land, or to subdivide under the unit title laws other than vacant land, needs no public notice; some others need only written notice to prescribed people, with a minimum period of 7 days.

3. Submissions.

   Anyone may make a written submission within the period. It must give the name and contact details of the person making it, and be signed; a body or group names a representative, who signs. A request to extend the period needs reasons. The consent authority grants one only if the request is not frivolous or vexatious, the need arises from reasons outside the requester’s control, and special circumstances justify it, and the extension is no more than 7 days unless exceptional circumstances justify longer. Where the land is in a council area, the consent authority also gives the local council written notice, unless the council has already completed the approved form in the application.

4. Evidence.

   The consent authority may invite people who made submissions to appear and give evidence, and it must invite a council that made one.

In deciding, the consent authority takes into account the matters in section 51 that are relevant, among them the planning scheme, the submissions and evidence, the merits shown in the application, the land’s capability, the amenity of the area, and the public interest, including where relevant community safety, water safety and access for people with disabilities.

The decision and its notices

As soon as practicable after considering the application, the consent authority must decide to consent, with or without conditions; to alter the development as it sees fit and consent to it as altered; or to refuse. A consent comes as a development permit, and its conditions can include a date on which the permit lapses.

Either way, a notice goes to the applicant and to everyone who made a submission, including a council. It gives the decision, the reasons, and the details of the right of review. The council for the land is told of the decision and given the reasons, and a copy of the notice is available for the public to inspect and buy.

Review by NTCAT

NTCAT hears a matter only where an Act gives it the power, and planning decisions are among the government decisions it can review. On a review it looks at the merits afresh, aiming at the correct or preferable decision, and it can consider material the original decision-maker did not have. Under the Planning Act it takes into account the same matters the consent authority had to consider.

A person served with an enforcement notice can also seek review, in the same 28 days. If an application for review is made about the issue of a development permit, the permit holder must stop all conduct under the permit until NTCAT decides.