The fees seem reasonable, but you must take care with the "all permits" part!

There are often levies for private open space, sewer, storm-water etc. that must be paid. If you are intending to sell the land with permits, a builder will need to be satisfied that the project documentation is complete or will make assumptions about how much they need to allow for the missing information. In order for the proposed building project to commence there needs to be building permit documentation that concurs with the town planning documentation. You needn't supply the building permit documentation in order to sell the land.

Ensure that your planner/architect has allowed for the surveyors fees, section 55 (in Victoria) or design response documentation, services design (so you can have those services connected) and it might also be a good idea to have a local builder give you an opinion on the proposed plans before you get too far advanced. If there are significant trees, or if the property is affected by one of the many (heritage, density, LSIO) overlays you may also need additional reports to satisfy the town planning department.

So, there are probably things you can organise yourself and save a little cash on (only if you have the time) but the important thing is understanding the process. The council, or the planner/architect should be able to advise you of any overlays, covenants or other nasties affecting the property.

Hi,

The process isn't particulalrly difficult, however, as DWolfe points out you may get some extra mileage from calling in the professionals for the first project. Once you know how it's done you can probably go on to take care of parts of the process yourself. The sub-division of land (in most areas) requires a TPP, which in turn can trigger the need for an explanation as to what you intend to do with the land once sub-divided! So what starts out as a simple request to sub-divide your land can become an extensive process. I would recomend, as a first step, going to the town planning department of the local authority (council) and discussing this with the planners. A simple "this is what I'd like to do, what issues do you have with this porposal" can usually save a lot of time and resources. If you're not comfortable fronting the town planners yourself, have someone who knows what they are doing do it for you.

Christian.