EHUP is a town planning consultancy based in Lakemba, servicing Canterbury-Bankstown, the Inner West and the wider Sydney metropolitan area. We are town planners and environmental health consultants under one roof, so a project that touches both - a home business, a food premises fitout, a change of use - gets handled by one firm instead of being split across two. Most engagements start the same way: send us the address and what you want to do, and we tell you which approval pathway applies and roughly what it costs, before you spend anything on drawings.
Most Sydney town planning consultancies stop at the planning report. EHUP is built around a different model: planning and environmental health under one roof, because a meaningful share of projects - a home-based business, a food premises fitout, a change of use - need both, assessed by different parts of council, on different rules. Running both from one firm means one point of contact and no risk of the two cases contradicting each other.
Homeowners planning a renovation, dual occupancy or secondary dwelling. Commercial and retail operators fitting out a tenancy or changing its use. Light industrial developers. People running or starting a business from home. Architects and designers assembling a DA package for their own client. Whatever the project, the starting question is the same: what does this property's zoning actually allow, and which pathway gets you there.
EHUP is based in Lakemba, in the Canterbury-Bankstown local government area, and that is where most of our council-specific experience runs deepest - its LEP, DCP and the way its assessing planners actually work. We also take on projects across Georges River, Bayside, Inner West, Cumberland, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, Burwood, Blacktown, Ryde, Penrith, Sutherland Shire and Fairfield, and the wider Sydney metropolitan area beyond that.
A free scope check comes first, same or next business day: send the address and what you want to do, and we confirm the pathway and the controls that apply. From there you get a written scope and a fixed fee, with council's own fees shown separately so there is no ambiguity about what is ours and what is council's. Documentation - the planning report, any specialist reports, the DA or CDC package itself - typically takes two to four weeks to assemble. Lodgement and determination follow through the NSW Planning Portal, with us managing every piece of correspondence until it is resolved.
Same or next business day
Send us the address and what you want to do. We check zoning, overlays and the applicable controls and tell you which pathway applies.
Within 2 business days
A written list of exactly what your application needs, with our fee and council's fees shown separately.
2-4 weeks typically
Planning report or Statement of Environmental Effects, drawings review, and any specialist reports coordinated under one programme.
CDC 2-3 weeks · DA 6-10 weeks
Lodged through the NSW Planning Portal and managed through to determination, including any request for further information.
Council requires a minimum of 700m² of land for a Torrens title subdivision of a dual occupancy in an R2 zone under Campbelltown City Council. The subject property comprises 655m², a shortfall of 45m². EHUP secured development approval despite this shortfall in land size.
Council issued a notice to cease use of the studio as a granny flat. The owner had purchased the property under the impression that the studio could be legally rented out. EHUP was engaged and secured DA approval despite a shortfall in the required land size for a granny flat under the Campbelltown Local Environmental Plan.
The residential dwelling had been used as an Islamic community centre, hosting congregational prayer, for more than 10 years. A number of unauthorised works had also been carried out to facilitate this use, and several prior applications had been rejected by Council. EHUP was engaged and successfully regularised the use of the community centre, together with all associated unauthorised structures.
A town planning consultant checks your property against the zoning, the Local Environmental Plan and Development Control Plan, and any overlays - heritage, bushfire, flood - to confirm what you can do and which approval pathway applies. From there we prepare the planning report or Statement of Environmental Effects, coordinate any specialist reports the site needs, and lodge and manage the application with council until it is determined.
Not always. Some minor work is exempt development and needs no approval at all, provided it meets every criterion in full. Where that is unclear, or where a project sits close to a threshold, a short scope check is worth more than guessing - the most expensive mistake we see is drawings commissioned for something that was never achievable under the controls.
We are based in Lakemba and work across Canterbury-Bankstown as our home area, plus Georges River, Bayside, Inner West, Cumberland, Liverpool, Parramatta, Strathfield, Burwood, Blacktown, Ryde, Penrith, Sutherland Shire and Fairfield. If your council is not listed, ask anyway - we take on work across the wider Sydney metropolitan area.
It depends on the pathway and the project - a straightforward CDC package starts from around $2,200 + GST, and a DA is quoted once we know what the application needs. The scope check that tells you which pathway applies, and what it will cost, is free and takes a day.
Projects like home-based businesses, food premises and change-of-use applications often need both a planning approval and an environmental health or food safety approval, assessed against different rules by different parts of council. Running both under one firm means one point of contact, one timeline, and no risk of the planning case and the health case contradicting each other.
Yes. Select "I am an architect / designer referring a client" on our contact form and the enquiry goes straight to a senior planner, with a turnaround commitment rather than a sales call. We are used to working alongside a design team rather than around one.
Almost every building project in NSW falls into one of three categories: exempt development (no approval needed), complying development (a fast-track CDC), or a full Development Application.
A Development Application is the merit-assessed approval pathway.
A Complying Development Certificate is the fast-track approval pathway.
A Development Application is only as strong as the planning argument attached to it.
Most home-based businesses can be approved.
Tell us the address and what you want to do. We'll help identify the appropriate planning pathway, whether it is exempt development, complying development or a full DA. Your first conversation is free.