Two people working through a set of development application documents at a desk

DA Approvals & Marine Town Planning

Approvals, handled

Approvals are where most waterfront projects get stuck. Extending your house means dealing with council. Building a jetty, pontoon or boat shed means building over Crown Land and public waterway, which brings several government agencies into the process at once.

That’s why we have our own in-house marine town planner, who specialises in waterfront applications. We run the approval and the build as one seamless project, so nothing falls through the gaps. You make one call, and we take care of the rest, from first design to final construction.

Who has to approve your waterfront structure

For waterfront works in NSW, including the Port Hacking River, the Georges River and Sydney Harbour, these are the bodies usually involved:

Almost always

Local council, such as Sutherland Shire or Georges River Council. They’re the consent authority and assess the DA.
Crown Lands (NSW Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure). As landowner of the waterway bed, they must give consent before the DA can be lodged, and they issue the licence or lease once it’s built.

Often

NSW DPI Fisheries. They’re involved under the Fisheries Management Act wherever the works affect seagrass or other marine vegetation, or involve dredging or reclamation. This is often referred to as “integrated development”.
Transport for NSW (Maritime). They assess navigation and safety. In Sydney Harbour they are the landowner instead of Crown Lands, and they license domestic waterfront facilities there.

Sometimes

Heritage NSW, if the site or structure is heritage-listed or Aboriginal cultural heritage may be affected.
NSW Department of Planning, where state planning policies apply, such as the Sydney Harbour catchment provisions.
National Parks and Wildlife Service, if the site adjoins park land, such as parts of the Port Hacking River near the Royal National Park.
Natural Resources Access Regulator, where a controlled activity approval may be needed for works on waterfront land.

A planner meeting a waterfront owner across a desk to talk through what their site will need

How it works, step by step

Say you have a waterfront with nothing on it yet. Here’s how we take it from an empty frontage to a finished structure.

Get in touch. Call us and we’ll introduce you to our marine town planner. They’ll send through a proposal and start on the design, while we advise on what’s achievable on your site.
Meet on the water. The three of us meet on site to work out exactly what you want and how best to deliver it.
Lodge for approval. The plans are lodged and work their way through the relevant agencies. We keep track of it for you the whole way.
Quote and build. Once approval comes through, we quote the construction to match exactly what’s been approved. Then we build it and see it through to the occupation certificate.

A planner and a Kingtide Marine project lead going through a jetty layout plan and a DA checklist on screen

How long does a waterfront DA take?

Approval typically takes 18 months, give or take, and no builder or planner can shortcut that. The day you engage us is the day we start planning, not the day we start building. It’s better to know that from the start than to find out six months in.

If you’d like a ballpark figure early on, we’re happy to give one, usually based on what’s been approved on neighbouring properties. The firm quote comes once approval is granted and we know exactly what we’re allowed to build. Anyone offering a fixed construction price for a jetty or pontoon before the design is approved is guessing.

A handshake across a desk over a signed application, with the plans and laptop still open

Frequently Asked Questions

What approvals do I need for a jetty or pontoon in NSW?

Generally a council development application, plus a Crown Lands licence because the structure sits over public waterway. Depending on your site, NSW Fisheries may be involved where seagrass or habitat is affected, and Transport for NSW where navigation matters. Which of these apply comes down to your specific frontage, which is the first thing we look at.

How long does a waterfront DA take?

Plan on around eighteen months. That is the honest answer for a waterfront application, because several agencies are involved and each has its own timeframe. It varies with the council, the site and how complete the submission is, but nobody can shortcut it. The upside of starting now is that the process is only getting harder and more expensive.

Do you handle the DA yourself?

Yes. We have our own in-house marine town planner, who specialises in waterfront applications and handles all our approvals and DAs. She takes on the design and the submission, we advise on what is achievable on your site, and the three of us meet on the water to work it through. You are not stuck coordinating between a planner and a builder who have never worked together.

Will you give me a price before the approval comes through?

A ballpark, yes. A firm quote, no, and you should be wary of anyone who does. Until the approval comes back we do not know what we are allowed to build, so the construction quote comes at the back end of the process. We can usually give you a reasonable ballpark by looking at what has been approved on neighbouring properties.

Do I need approval for everything on the waterfront?

Essentially, yes. As soon as a structure goes out over the water it is on Crown land, which is government owned, so you need approval and you pay a lease on the space you occupy. That applies to jetties, pontoons, slipways and even a simple skid ramp. The main exception is rebuilding something that is already there on the same footprint, which usually comes under repairs and maintenance instead.

Can you build from an approval I already have?

Yes. If you have an approved DA in hand, send it through and we will price the build against the approved plans. If anything in the approval does not suit what is actually on your foreshore, we will flag it before we start rather than halfway through.

Simple from the start

How It Works

Get in touch
Tell us what you have and what you want. We put you together with the planner.
Design, submission, site meeting
She designs and lodges it, and the three of us meet on site to nut it out.
Quote, build, OC
Once it is approved we quote the construction, build it, and see the OC through.

Kingtide Marine

Why Choose Kingtide Marine

20 years of experience

Twenty years in the trade and around 100 jobs a year on the Port Hacking River, the Georges River, Sydney Harbour and the South Coast. Nobody knows these tides, beds and foreshores better.

Our own fleet of vessels

No waiting on subcontractors. We run our own fleet of operating marine vessels and do the construction ourselves.

Five-year warranty

We warrant our work for five years and come back at three to six months to check it over, tighten it up and put it right.

Reviews

What our clients say

5.0 from 16 Google reviews

Mick and his team delivered outstanding service and work quality in the refurbishment of our concrete jetty and slipway. Communication was excellent and the end product was of a very high standard, considering the original state of the structures. We definitely felt we received excellent value for money and will always use Kingtide for future waterfront projects.
Stephen Smith
Mick, Sam and the team were fantastic to deal with from the onset. Easy to deal with and awesome workmanship. Nothing was a problem and great advice given. I highly recommend Kingtide services.
Paul Gentile
Mick and his team worked with us from the day our old jetty was damaged in a storm. They made it safe and patiently waited while we planned for a new one. They kept us updated with progress, checked we were happy and we now have a beautiful new jetty. Would highly recommend them..thanks guys. Drummoyne NSW
Jules OK

Read all our reviews on Google →

DA Approvals & Marine Town Planning

Approvals, handled