With the plans now complete we were heading off to council. Unfortunately for us, the estate we are building in requires submission to the "Estate Council" before proceeding to the Local Council. Therefore on the 24th September 2010, our house plans and garden specifications were sent off to "The Ponds" council. This process checks the plans for facade design, tree and garden selection and textures and treatments to make sure that it "fits with the rest of the estate".
For a process that was supposed to take 2 weeks ended up being close to 4, after our garden specifications were rejected due to letterbox configurations and retaining wall design. Finally after weeks of chasing, our plans were approved on the 22nd October 2010.
Next step was local council.
My husband had heard about a new process called Complying Development Approval. This new process allows houses to be approved within 10 working days instead of the ordinary 6- 8 weeks. To apply to Complying Development you need to meet strict guidelines specifically in terms of land to house ratios. We complied and off we went! By the 12th November 2010, we were approved and final DA approval by the 26th November 2010.