Checklist · Planning & Environment
Planning agreement (voluntary planning agreement): review checklist and letter of offer (NSW, EP&A Act ss 7.4 to 7.7)
Checklist for preparing or reviewing a NSW planning agreement against the matters s 7.4(3) requires, the s 7.11 and 7.12 exclusion rules, exhibition and explanatory note steps, registration on title, and the limits on what a council may require, with a short developer letter of offer.
- Kind
- Checklist. Steps or checks to work through and tick off.
- Where it applies
- New South Wales
- AI use
- Yellow AI can help in set ways. A lawyer checks specific points before use.
- Law stated as at
- 18 October 2026
- Status
- Maintained. Checked on 18 October 2026 against the 4 authorities it cites, for New South Wales.
- Version
- 1
- Source
- Written for this library
When to use it
Use when a developer offers, or a council or the Minister proposes, a planning agreement linked to a development application or a planning proposal, whether you act for the developer, the planning authority or a landowner or financier who must consent to registration.
Used for these tasks
Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.
How AI may be used
AI may check a draft agreement against the checklist and list missing or inconsistent terms, and prepare the schedule of contributions from the agreed term sheet; the lawyer negotiates and settles the obligations, security and exclusions.
AI may
- Check a draft agreement against each s 7.4(3) item and list anything missing or unclear
- Build the schedule of contributions, works and dedications with their timing triggers from the agreed term sheet
- Compare the agreement with the development consent conditions and the contributions plan and list overlaps or inconsistencies
AI must not
- Must not decide whether to exclude or credit s 7.11 or 7.12 contributions; that is a negotiated and advised position
- Must not settle the security, dispute or default terms without the lawyer
- Must not prepare the explanatory note’s merits assessment for a planning authority; that is the authority’s own assessment
The lawyer checks
- Every matter in s 7.4(3) is dealt with expressly, including whether ss 7.11, 7.12 and Div 7.1 Subdiv 4 are excluded and, if s 7.11 is not excluded, whether benefits are taken into account
- Any exclusion of s 7.11 or 7.12 has the party or approval s 7.4(3A) requires
- The agreement and explanatory note were exhibited for at least 28 days with the development application or planning proposal, as the Regulation requires
- Registration consents from mortgagees and other registered interest holders are obtained, and the timing of registration is tied to a clear trigger
Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.
Read the full text
The full text is for signed-in accounts. It is free. When you sign in you can:
- read the whole precedent, with its drafting notes beside it;
- copy it, or download it as a Word file or Markdown;
- add it to your firm’s knowledge base, so colleagues can find it;
- let the AI tools you connect read it from that knowledge base.
The summary, the law it rests on and the AI-use guidance above stay public. Privacy.
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