Service area
Building design and planning approvals in Georges River
A merged council still consolidating two planning histories, and a lot of LMR-affected land around Hurstville and Kogarah.
The instruments in force
The LEP commenced 8 October 2021, consolidating the former Hurstville LEP 2012 and Kogarah LEP 2012 into one instrument for the merged council. The DCP is being amended in stages — site-specific amendments are exhibited separately, so a downloaded copy may not include the chapter that applies to your street.
Verified 7 September 2026. LEPs are amended constantly and DCP chapters change independently of each other — we confirm the in-force version against your address rather than working from this page.
The merger still shows
Georges River was formed from Hurstville and Kogarah, and although the LEP was consolidated in 2021, the two halves of the LGA don't behave identically. Older approvals sit under the former instruments, precedent runs differently on each side, and anyone relying on what happened at a comparable site should first check which council assessed it.
Practically, this means the useful question is not "what does Georges River do" but "what does Georges River do here". A dual occupancy outcome in Oatley is not evidence for one in Kingsgrove.
LMR is the live issue
Hurstville and Kogarah are both substantial centres with rail, and a great deal of surrounding residential land now sits inside a low- and mid-rise catchment. That has changed what is permissible on ordinary R2 and R3 blocks in a way that has not yet worked through the market.
Two things follow. First, the inner band matters — 0–400 m carries materially more generous floor space ratio and height than 400–800 m, and around Hurstville in particular the difference between the two decides whether a residential flat building is worth doing. Second, amalgamation. Blocks that individually can't reach the frontage or area thresholds for terraces or multi-dwelling housing frequently can in pairs.
Dual occupancy is a separate matter and does not need the catchment at all — it has been permissible in R2 state-wide since July 2024. See dual occupancy.
What we do here most
- Dual occupancy and subdivision — the lot sizes across Penshurst, Mortdale, Peakhurst and Beverly Hills suit it, and the subdivision is usually what makes the numbers work
- LMR feasibility and yield tests around the Hurstville and Kogarah catchments, including amalgamation scenarios. See multi-dwelling and LMR
- Alterations and additions, particularly second-storey work on the interwar and postwar stock
- Secondary dwellings on the deeper blocks south of the railway
- Commercial change of use along the Hurstville and Kogarah retail strips, where existing use rights come up more than anywhere else we work. See change of use
The foreshore and the flood land
The river frontage from Blakehurst through Connells Point to Lugarno carries foreshore controls, and the low-lying land around the creeks and the bay carries flood controls. Both are decisive rather than negotiable: a flood control lot generally closes complying development, and for a secondary dwelling on one the refuge level is the probable maximum flood rather than the 1% AEP — a materially higher bar that catches people out.
Suburbs we work in
Hurstville · Kogarah · Carlton · Allawah · Beverley Park · Blakehurst · Carss Park · Connells Point · Kyle Bay · Sans Souci · Sandringham · Ramsgate · Kogarah Bay · Penshurst · Mortdale · Oatley · Peakhurst · Peakhurst Heights · Lugarno · Riverwood · Narwee · Beverly Hills · Hurstville Grove · South Hurstville · Kingsgrove
Not an exhaustive list of the LGA. If your suburb isn't here, we almost certainly still work there — send the address.
Have a site in Georges River?
Send us the address. We'll run the controls that apply to it and tell you what it can carry.