Download a free Statement of Environmental Effects template to help you prepare your NSW Development Application.
Download SEE Template (PDF)A Statement of Environmental Effects template provides the standard headings and section structure your council expects. It saves you from starting with a blank page. You still fill in every section: the site description, the proposal description, the LEP and DCP compliance tables, the impact assessment addressing the five section 4.15 matters, and the conclusion.
What a template cannot do is tell you which controls apply to your specific lot. Your council's LEP sets the height and FSR for your zone. The DCP sets setbacks, landscaping, and privacy controls. A template gives you the format; you still need to look up the numbers for your site on the NSW ePlanning Spatial Viewer or your 10.7 planning certificate.
Work through the template in order. Start with the site description: the address, legal description, dimensions, existing structures, and any constraints on the title. Move to the proposal: what you are building, materials, colours, and how it sits on the lot. Then address each LEP standard (zone, height, FSR, minimum lot size) and each DCP control (setbacks, site coverage, landscaping, private open space, parking, privacy). The impact assessment is where most of the writing goes — overshadowing, privacy, noise, stormwater, and streetscape. Conclude with why the proposal is suitable for the site and in the public interest.
If you would rather not fill in each section yourself, generate a complete, DA-ready SEE in 5 minutes. The guided questionnaire asks about your site and proposal, then produces a filled-in SEE with all the required sections, tailored to your council.
The template follows the same structure your council expects. Sections 1 and 2 (Introduction and Site Analysis) give the officer the who, what and where. Section 3 (Planning Framework) sets out the rules. Section 4 (Compliance Assessment) puts your numbers beside the controls in a table. Section 5 (Section 4.15 Evaluation) addresses the five matters every consent authority must consider under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. Section 6 (Environmental Impacts) is where the detail goes, and Section 7 concludes.
This structure follows the same order a council assessing officer works through. A well-organised SEE saves the officer time, and an application that is easy to assess is less likely to attract a request for information. The template gives you the headings and the prompts; you supply the site-specific content. Always confirm your zone, development standards, and constraints on the NSW ePlanning Spatial Viewer or your 10.7 planning certificate before filling in the numbers.
Yes. The SEE template is a free downloadable PDF. It covers the standard structure councils expect — title block, site analysis, planning framework, compliance table, section 4.15 evaluation, impacts assessment, and conclusion. You fill in your site-specific content.
Yes. Councils assess the content of your SEE, not whether you used a template. As long as every required section is addressed and the information is accurate for your site, a template-based SEE is perfectly acceptable.
The compliance tables. You need to find the correct height, FSR, and setback standards for your zone in your council's LEP and DCP. Stating the wrong standard is one of the fastest ways to get a request for information. Always confirm the figures for your specific lot on the NSW ePlanning Spatial Viewer.
Use your council's template if they publish one — it is tailored to their specific DCP structure and the assessing officer will be familiar with it. This template is a general one that works across NSW councils.