Subdivision involves dividing one lot into two or more lots or combining several lots into one.
Green-Title (Or ‘Freehold’): In this type of subdivision, each lot is individually owned without any shared ownership of common land. There are also no shared services.
Survey Strata Title: In a Survey-Strata Scheme, a registered survey-strata plan shows both individual lots with any shared common property. Unlike other types of strata arrangements, survey-strata involves the division of land only, not including any buildings that may be present. Common property, such as shared driveways, may or may not exist within a survey-strata setup.
Built Strata Title: This type involves subdividing a building (based on cubic space) and occasionally the surrounding land into individual lots. Approval for this type of strata is obtained from the City of Cockburn.
Subdivision process
1. Preparing a Subdivision Application
All Subdivision applications are lodged directly with the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC) and are also determined by WAPC. A subdivision application must include a plan based on an accurate and up-to date feature survey. This is done though engaging a licenced practicing land surveyor. Please be advised that the City does not recommend surveyors.
2. Lodging an Application to WAPC
All subdivision applications must be lodged directly with WAPC for determination via the Planning Online Portal. To begin using the portal, you will first need to register. For information on how to prepare your subdivision application an application guide is available in the WAPC Application Guide.
3. Referral to Relevant Authorities
After a subdivision application has been lodged with WAPC, it is referred to the Local Government (as well as other relevant public or private agencies such as Water Corp and Western Power).
When the City has received the subdivision application, a City officer will have 42 days to:
- Assess the application against the R Codes, The City of Cockburn Town Planning Scheme No.3 and relevant City policies.
- Request any additional information that may be required from WAPC or applicant.
- Refer complex subdivision applications to an internal DCU meeting which are held weekly. These meetings involve officers from other departments i.e. Engineering, Environmental Health, Environment etc to discuss the application and provide input.
- Finally, if the application is found to be compliant, a recommendation letter is prepared endorsing the subdivision subject to appropriate conditions.
4. Subdivision Application Determination
The WAPC may approve the application with conditions. All conditions are required to be satisfied prior to final endorsement of the subdivision. Subdivision approval is valid for;
- three years for subdivisions of five lots and less,
- four years for subdivisions of six lots and more.
5. Reconsideration/Review of Conditions/Decision
If aggrieved by a refusal decision or conditions of an approval, the applicant may lodge a request with the WAPC to reconsider the decision or conditions. This must be done within 28 days of the decision date. If still not satisfied with the conditions or the decision, the applicant has a right to apply to the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT) for a review.
6. Prior to Applying for Clearance
All necessary subdivision works must be undertaken to satisfy the conditions of subdivision approval.
Read the Subdivision Clearance Information Sheet below which provides guidance on how to clear the local government subdivision conditions.
7. Applying for Clearance of Conditions
To obtain clearance of the Local Government conditions from City of Cockburn, a clearance application must be lodged with the City. The City will check that all the conditions have been met and if satisfied, a clearance letter will be issued along with a stamped final survey strata plan/deposited plan prepared by your licenced land surveyor.
Apply for Clearance of Conditions
8. Final Endorsement
After WAPC have received the clearance letter from the City as well as those from all other relevant authorities, the applicant is required to apply to WAPC for endorsement of the final survey strata plan/deposited plan.
9. Lodgement for New Titles
The applicant can then apply to Landgate for new titles. Applications for title must be made within two years of the WAPC endorsement date.
Standard subdivision engineering process
Once a subdivision has received approval from the Western Australian Planning Commission or a development application has received approval from the City’s Planning Department, the engineering process related to the development can commence:
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1 set of A1 engineering design drawings and specifications sent for City’s review
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The City reviews documents and an approval letter with conditions sent out
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Consulting Engineers advise the City of the works commencement date, contractor’s name and contract sum
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City inspects all stages of works such as subgrade, sub-base, asphalting, kerbing, drainage and footpath works
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Practical Completion Inspection with contractor and consulting engineer occurs at the completion of all stages of works. The 12 months Defects Liability Period starts after the Council accepts the works
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All QA documents and constructed drawings are to be submitted for the City’s record at the time of clearance of the development along with the Supervision Fee (1.5% of contract sum) and Maintenance Bond (5% of contract sum). The Maintenance Bond is released after a successful inspection at the end of the defects liability period.
Subdivision standards and guidelines
To help standardise the process, the City has produced the following design guidelines and standard drawings to encourage a straight-forward design process and faster approval time. The City acknowledges that the guidelines published by the Institute of Public Works Engineering Australasia (IPWEA -latest edition) are to be considered as the minimum standard for subdivision development. The below documents are subject to periodic change and constructive criticism will be appreciated.
It is the responsibility of developers and consultants who work with development to ensure the document they are referring to is the most recent available.
To facilitate this, the version number on the front cover will be updated every time a change is made to the document and a list of the changes made will be provided in the table of contents.
Compliance with these documents in the design will result in a simpler design process and a quicker approval time.
The City of Cockburn appreciates innovation however approval for any variance should be sought before it is incorporated in the design.