Council has approved an amendment to its notification protocols designed to reduce the number of subjective judgments to be made by planning staff in relation to whether neighbours need to be told a DA has been lodged by a neighbour.

The change comes after a scathing assessment of council’s notifications policy by Land and Environment Court Justice Rachel Pepper in 2013 when she described the decisions of council as “irrational, perverse and bizarre” in the case of a development in McKell Street.

It also follows an outcry over the construction of a 20 metre by eight metre shed in Mitre Street in May this year that had been approved by council staff without the knowledge of neighbours.

Under the changes, a number of new development types will be added to the list of “notified developments”, meaning they will be brought to the attention of neighbours who would then have 10 days to make a submission to council.

The new notified development types include:

Sheds and garages with a floor area greater than 45 square metres (in a heritage conservation area) or 60 square metres (in all other R1 or R2 zoned land).

Transportable dwellings in the Bathurst and West Bathurst heritage conservation areas.

Garages, sheds and carports within the Bathurst and West Bathurst heritage conservation areas, forward of the established front or side building alignment for the development site.

Infill dwellings which address a street frontage within the Bathurst and West Bathurst heritage conservation areas.

But a report to councillors noted that the changes would likely have an impact on average approval times for DAs in the region.

“In the first instance, the inclusion of a greater number of development types as either exhibited or notified development ... would add a minimum of 14 additional days, in the case of exhibited development, or an additional 10 days, in the case of notified development, to the assessment of the applications,” the report stated.

“Approximately 40 per cent of applications which are notified or exhibited currently result in a determination by council at an ordinary meeting rather than a determination under delegated authority.”