Places of Public Worship

Historic church with reddish-brown stone, featuring two tall spires and arched windows

Community and religious groups play an important role in providing social support for the community. Development applications (DAs) for places of worship need to be submitted for work relating to:

  • a new purpose-built place of public worship
  • alterations and/or additions to or intensification of an existing place of public worship
  • conversion or adaptation of existing buildings to a place of public worship

Required Information

In addition to the standard information required for a DA, you will also need to provide details on places of worship including the:

  • likely effects of the development on the amenity of nearby residents
  • traffic
  • noise generation
  • consistency of the proposed development with the zone objectives in any environmental planning instruments relating to the land
  • suitability of the site and neighbourhood for the scale and intensity of development proposed
  • impact on the character of the locality.

Operational Plan of Management

The operational plan of management is used in the assessment of the application and as a means to manage the ongoing operation of the proposed premises via the conditions of development consent. You will need to provide details including:

  • the proposed hours of operation, a schedule of regular services held and recurring events and special events throughout the year
  • the expected numbers of people attending special events attracting more than 250 people
  • the types of community purposes (e.g. community colleges, senior citizens groups, youth groups etc) the building may be used for outside the regular services, how often and how many people will attend
  • a list of the type of organisations that may let or use the building and for what purposes, how often and how many people will attend
  • an explanation of the measures that will be in place to manage parking and local traffic when a special event is scheduled
  • the estimated number of people to be in attendance at regular services, main events and at times when the place of public worship will be in use
  • current contact details for those who will be responsible for complaints handling
  • anticipated growth of the congregation and how this will be factored into the development and managed in the future.
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