Understanding the Planning Process
How the SSD/HDA pathway works and where the community fits in.
The Hewlett Street proposal is being assessed as State Significant Development (SSD) under the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) pathway. This is fundamentally different from a standard Development Application assessed by Waverley Council.
Under this pathway, Council is not the consent authority. The consent authority is the Minister for Planning (or their delegate within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure). The Independent Planning Commission (IPC) is excluded from the process, so there is no independent review, even if more than 50 objections are received or Council objects.
Understanding this process is essential for making effective submissions when the exhibition period opens. Every fact below is sourced from publicly available government documents. Links are provided at the bottom of this page so you can verify them yourself.
The Process at a Glance
Key Differences from a Standard DA
- •Council is not the consent authority. The Department of Planning makes the decision under delegation from the Minister.
- •The IPC is excluded. No independent review even with 50+ objections or council objection. The IPC jurisdiction provision (s2.7 of the Planning Systems SEPP) does not extend to Ministerial s4.36(3) declarations.
- •Exhibition is 14 days, not 28. Half the standard SSD exhibition period. Approximately 10 business days.
- •DCPs don't apply. Council's development control plans are not binding on SSD.
- •Concurrent rezoning. The height limit and floor space ratio for this specific site are being amended simultaneously with the development application, in a single exhibition window.
Why Your Submission Still Matters
Under s4.15 of the EP&A Act, the consent authority is legally required to take into account all submissions received during the exhibition period. Every substantive issue raised in a submission must be addressed in the Department's assessment report. The Department cannot approve a development without responding to the concerns raised by the community. This is a legal obligation, not a discretionary courtesy.
Submissions also build the evidentiary record. If the application is approved and the process was flawed, because mandatory considerations were not properly addressed or significant impacts were not adequately assessed, any person may seek judicial review in the Land and Environment Court within three months of the determination.
The exhibition covers both the development proposal and the proposed changes to the site's planning controls (the height limit and floor space ratio). This means submissions are not limited to a binary “approve” or “refuse”. You can say whether the limits should be raised here at all, and why.
The Process Step by Step
HDA Declaration: Housing Delivery Authority Recommendation
The Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) is a NSW Government panel that recommends projects be fast-tracked as State Significant Development. The developer submitted an Expression of Interest (EOI 289312), and the HDA assessed it against published criteria. The HDA recommended declaration, and the Minister for Planning declared the project SSD by Ministerial order under s4.36(3) of the EP&A Act. This is a procedural step. It is not an approval to build.
Hewlett Street Status
Completed. The HDA recommended the Hewlett Street project on 9 December 2025. The Minister declared it SSD on 19 December 2025. The HDA also recommended that the applicant be advised to consider increasing their commitment to affordable housing given the significant uplift proposed.
Why It Matters
Once declared SSD, the project bypasses Waverley Council as consent authority. The consent authority becomes the Minister for Planning (or their delegate within the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure). The Department assesses the application and makes the determination.
BCA Action
BCA has reviewed the full HDA Record of Briefing including the meeting transcript. Filed a GIPA request for the full EOI application submitted by Fortis to the HDA.
SEARs: Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements
The Secretary's Environmental Assessment Requirements set the scope of the Environmental Impact Statement, the matters the developer must assess, and the standard to which each must be assessed. They are issued by the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, and are informed by input from relevant agencies and the local council. Because this development requires concurrent rezoning, it received project-specific SEARs rather than the shorter industry-specific pathway.
Hewlett Street Status
Completed. The Department issued the SEARs for SSD-124072740 on 5 June 2026. The covering letter that accompanied them goes further than the standard template: it directs that the proposed height and floor space ratio 'should be reconsidered', requires the assessment to consider 'the desired future character of the Bronte headland precinct' and the precedent the development may set for height and density, and states that 'given the lower height limits surrounding the subject site, suitable strategic merit must be provided to demonstrate the public benefit of the development'. It also required the developer to take the design to a State Design Review Panel convened by Government Architect NSW before lodgement.
Why It Matters
SEARs determine the scope of the EIS. If an issue is not addressed in the SEARs, the developer may not be required to assess it. In this case the requirements are unusually direct: the Department has placed the onus on the developer to justify the height and density against the character of the Bronte headland, and to demonstrate a public benefit. This is a requirement to justify, not a cap. The SEARs do not limit the height. Whether the requirement has any bite depends on what the EIS actually contains, and on what the community and Council put on the record.
BCA Action
BCA's planning work is now directed at the matters the covering letter raised: the desired future character of the Bronte headland precinct, the precedent this development would set, and whether a public benefit has been demonstrated.
EIS Preparation: Environmental Impact Statement
The developer prepares a detailed Environmental Impact Statement responding to the SEARs. Under this pathway the developer has a maximum of nine months from the issue of the SEARs to lodge the application, including full architectural drawings and the completed EIS. The EIS is the first time the community sees the actual design of the building. There is no separate design disclosure before exhibition. It includes site plans, floor plans, elevations, sections, shadow diagrams, photomontages, and all supporting technical reports.
Hewlett Street Status
This is the current stage. The nine-month period runs from the issue of the SEARs on 5 June 2026, placing the outer deadline at 5 March 2027, a deadline the covering letter allows the developer to apply to extend. The developer's own published timeline is earlier: it states that the target is to lodge the SSD and concurrent rezoning application in the second half of 2026. The State Design Review Panel review required before lodgement was held in July–August 2026. Fortis's pre-lodgement community engagement, including a survey and two webinars, closed on 2 October 2026.
Why It Matters
The EIS contains the actual detail of what is proposed, and it is written during this window. The developer's own engagement process runs inside the same window, and the SEARs require the developer to identify how issues raised and feedback received have been considered in the design of the project. What the community puts on the record now is what that obligation is measured against.
BCA Action
BCA is engaging professional planning and legal advisors, and is establishing independent baseline data before the EIS is lodged so the community is prepared to assess the proposal.
Public Exhibition: Community Submissions
Once the EIS is lodged, it is placed on public exhibition on the NSW Planning Portal. The exhibition covers both the development proposal and the proposed changes to the site's planning controls for height and floor space ratio, which are exhibited in the same window. This means submissions are not limited to a binary 'approve' or 'refuse'. You can say whether the limits should be raised here at all, and why.
Hewlett Street Status
Follows lodgement of the EIS. The exact dates depend on when the developer lodges. Under the Department's Community Participation Plan, in force from 1 September 2026, the minimum exhibition period for this pathway is 14 calendar days, or ten business days. The period from 20 December to 10 January inclusive is excluded from the calculation of an exhibition period, which protects the length of an exhibition but does not govern when one opens.
Why It Matters
This is the community's primary opportunity to have concerns formally recorded. Under s4.15 of the EP&A Act, the consent authority is legally required to take into account all submissions received, and every substantive issue raised must be addressed in the Department's assessment report. The window is extremely tight. The EIS will run to thousands of pages across dozens of technical reports, and preparation must happen before exhibition opens, not during it.
BCA Action
Submissions must be lodged through the NSW Planning Portal, not by email. Because the Minister is the consent authority for this application, submissions are made through the Portal under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021, ss 287 and 287A. An emailed submission falls outside the record. The step-by-step instructions are on this site now, at /submit, and BCA will email its members the day the exhibition opens.
Response to Submissions
After exhibition closes, the Department publishes all submissions on the Major Projects website and requests the developer to formally respond. The developer prepares a Response to Submissions (RtS) addressing issues raised by the public, government agencies, and Council. The RtS may include amended architectural drawings, additional technical reports, or design modifications. The RtS is published and may itself generate further submissions.
Hewlett Street Status
Future stage. Timeline depends on exhibition period.
Why It Matters
Strong, well-evidenced submissions force the developer and the Department to address community concerns on the record. The developer may modify the proposal to address issues raised. The quality and specificity of submissions directly determines how seriously they must be addressed.
Department Assessment
The Department of Planning prepares its whole-of-government assessment report, evaluating the application against the mandatory considerations in s4.15 of the EP&A Act: the applicable environmental planning instruments, the significant likely impacts of the development, the suitability of the site, all submissions received, and the public interest. The assessment report includes a recommendation to approve (with conditions) or refuse. The published end-to-end target is 275 days from lodgement of the SSD application to determination, though the Department is currently averaging approximately 204 days.
Hewlett Street Status
Future stage. After Fortis responds. No date set.
Why It Matters
The assessment report must address every submission received. The Department cannot approve a development without responding to the concerns raised by the community. This is a legal obligation, not a discretionary courtesy. A large number of substantive, evidence-based submissions strengthens the case for refusal or significant conditions.
Determination: Decision
The consent authority for this application is the Minister for Planning (or their delegate within the Department), not the Independent Planning Commission and not Waverley Council. The delegation instrument confirms this. The Independent Planning Commission is not the consent authority for this application, so the number of objections received does not trigger a referral to it, and neither does an objection from Council.
Hewlett Street Status
After Fortis responds. No date set. The decision-maker is the Department (via delegation from the Minister), not the IPC.
Why It Matters
The exclusion of the IPC removes an independent review layer. The same Department that assessed the application also makes the final decision. This makes the quality of submissions during exhibition even more critical. They are the primary mechanism for influencing the outcome.
BCA Action
BCA continues to press for the community's concerns to be addressed on the record during assessment. The Land and Environment Court remains available for judicial review regardless of the pathway.
Land and Environment Court: Judicial Review
After determination, any person may seek judicial review in the NSW Land and Environment Court within three months. Judicial review examines whether the decision-maker followed correct procedures, considered all relevant matters (including submissions), and acted within their powers. This is not a re-assessment of the merits of the development. The Court does not substitute its own planning judgment.
Hewlett Street Status
Contingent on determination outcome and legal advice.
Why It Matters
The LEC is the remaining enforcement backstop when the IPC is excluded. The quality of community submissions during exhibition directly strengthens the foundation for any judicial review challenge. If mandatory considerations were not properly addressed or significant impacts were not adequately assessed, the evidentiary record built during exhibition becomes critical.
BCA Action
BCA has engaged legal counsel to advise on the judicial review pathway.
Source Documents
All facts on this page are sourced from publicly available government documents. We encourage you to read them yourself.
EP&A Act 1979
Principal legislation governing planning and development assessment in NSW.
DPHI Community Participation Plan (September 2025)
Sets the minimum 14-day exhibition period for SSD declared under s4.36(3).
Guide to Faster Assessments for SSD Housing Applications
Details the HDA assessment pathway including scoping meetings, SEARs process, and exhibition requirements.
Delegation Instrument: Housing SSD Decisions
Confirms the consent authority for HDA-declared SSD is the Minister (or their delegate within DPHI).
HDA Record of Briefing, 9 December 2025
Minutes and transcript of HDA meeting recommending the Hewlett Street project be declared SSD.
DPHI News Release, 19 December 2025
Confirms Minister declared 19 projects as SSD following HDA recommendations.
Waverley LEP 2012
Current planning controls for the site, including the R3 zone and the 9.5-metre height limit.
HDA SSD Criteria
Published criteria used by the HDA to evaluate EOI applications.
NSW Planning Portal
Search for the site address to verify current zoning. Major Projects page will list the application when the Scoping Report is published.
The most important thing you can do is make a submission.
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