Planning Approval Secured in Burnside: Overcoming Significant Tree and Access Challenges

Planning a development can be tricky. Especially when you discover hidden issues after purchasing a site. At CPD, we often help clients overcome complex challenges that could otherwise derail their investment.

One recent project in Hazelwood Park, in the City of Burnside, is a perfect example. What looked like a great development opportunity came with some serious hurdles. Here’s how we navigated the issues and helped our client turn a problematic property into a successful residential development.

The Vacant Development Site in Hazelwood Park

The Challenges

Although the property sat across two allotments on a major road in Adelaide’s east, seemingly ideal for development, it faced multiple barriers:

• A large regulated tree sat right in the middle of the site and had to be preserved.

• Only one existing access point, requiring Department of Infrastructure approval for any changes.

• Street trees and infrastructure blocked potential access points from the road.

• A significant slope across the block made construction and drainage more complicated.

• Location on a major road restricts the development to a single access point.

Each of these problems could have stopped the project in its tracks. But our job is to find pathways forward.

Our Strategic Planning Approach

Rather than take a standard approach, we tailored our strategy to the site’s unique constraints:

• Staged planning: We timed key elements of the application to secure a second access point from the road. This was crucial as it ensured we could pursue a Torrens Title subdivision rather than a Community Title one, which made the development more valuable and marketable.

• Tree protection planning: Instead of seeing the tree as an obstacle, we designed the development to incorporate and protect it, ensuring long-term environmental and aesthetic value for residents and the broader community.

The Result

We secured planning approval for four detached dwellings, a huge win for our client, especially after earlier unsuccessful attempts.

This project is a great example of how strategic planning can unlock potential others may miss. The site, which sat empty for over 10 years, now has a future, and so does the client’s investment.

Development Outcome at the Hazelwood Park Site

Need Help With a Challenging Site?

Almost every site has potential, it just takes the right approach. At CPD, we specialise in turning planning problems into development success.

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