CAN I RUN MY BUSINESS FROM HOME ?
You can operate a business from home provided that:

• Your business is small scale, causes minimal impact on the amenity of the area and meets the definition of 'Home Employment',
  and
  
• Your home is located in an area that is zoned to allow 'Home Employment'. Home Employment is permitted in most areas of the Shire, but is not allowed in areas zoned Employment 4(a), Special Uses 5(a) or Recreation 6(a).

WHAT IS HOME EMPLOYMENT?

For a business or practice to be classified as 'Home Employment' it must be undertaken in the following circumstances:

• Located in a dwelling (or in a building adjoining a dwelling) in which at least one person involved in the
  business / practice lives.
  
• The business / practice causes minimal interference to the amenity of the neighbouring area.
  
• The business / practice is in character with the scale and amenity of other activities within the immediate
  area.
  
• If the business / practice is proposing to sell goods from the property, then the goods must be produced
  on site or directly related to the business undertaken on the site.
  
• The business / practice does not employ more than 3 people who do not live in the dwelling.
  
• The business / practice does not occupy more than 60 square metres of the building in which it is located.

If your proposal does not meet these requirements, then it will be classified as a ‘ Commercial’ use. Commercial uses are only permissible in areas zoned Rural Enterprise 1(e), Village 2(a), Business 3(a) and Employment 4(a).

Your business must not create a problem for your neighbours, for example by:

• Creating repeated, prolonged or loud noises
  
• Increasing traffic in the street to an unacceptable level, particularly truck traffic
  
• Creating parking difficulties in the street
  
• Producing smoke, smells, fumes, dust etc

Yes if…

• You are going to make structural changes to or extend a building to accommodate the business / practice, you will also need to obtain a Construction Certificate before any work can commence on the premise. (see the Construction Certificate Information Sheet).
  
• Your property is located in a rural, flood-prone, bushfire prone or environmentally sensitive area, specific provisions may apply. These provisions are contained in Dungog Shire Development Control Plan 2004. Check with Council's Town Planning Officers before you prepare your Development Application.
• Your dwelling is a heritage building or located in a Heritage Conservation Area and you are proposing to alter the dwelling, you may need to prepare a Heritage Impact Statement as part of your Development Application. Check with Council's Town Planning Officers.

HOW DO I GET DEVELOPMENT APPROVAL?

Start by having a Pre-lodgement meeting with Council's Economic Development Officer. Council will ask you about your proposal and the amount of construction and site works likely to be involved. At this meeting Council may provide advice on:

• The issues that you must address in your Development Application.
  
• If building works are involved - how and when to apply for a Construction

Certificate.
Please bring details of the property you have selected and your proposal to this meeting. Preliminary concept plans and some photos of the property and surrounding properties would also help.

You will then need to lodge a Development Application and supporting information with Council. Information on the Development Application process is available from Council or from Council's website: www.dungog.nsw.gov.au. A Development Application form can be down-loaded from Council's website.

In preparing your Development Application and accompanying Statement of Environmental Effects you need to answer all relevant questions on the Development Application form. The requirements for a Development Application are set-out in Part A - Section 2 of Dungog DCP1. The specific information that you need to include with your Development Application is summarised below.

• Location and description of the premise that you will be operating from.
  
• The type of business (eg Doctor, Dentist, Surveyor).
  
• The activities you will be undertaking.
  
• Hours of operation including any proposed weekend and night-time activities.
  
• The number of staff that will be employed and the maximum number of staff that will generally be on site at the same time.
  
• The type and frequency of any deliveries that you might receive.
  
• Whether clients will be visiting your property and if so, how many do you envisage per day.

• Site plan showing the layout of the buildings and structures, setback from the boundaries and the location of your neighbour's buildings. For a home-based operation, indicate which rooms and facilities are to be used nn by clients.
  
• Building plans showing what the building and structures will look like and the materials that they will be constructed from.
  
• Landscape plan.
  
• Proposed fencing and how you will secure your site and screen your business to minimise visual impacts.
  
• If the sewer is not available, details of the septic system to be used including the type of system and its capacity.
  
• Drainage system, particularly how you will control potential pollutants.
  
• Access to the property and where staff, visitors and delivery vehicles will park.
  
• Any proposed signage.
  
• Any plant and equipment that you will be installing, with details of plant or machinery that is noise generating.
  
  

How you will prevent your operation from impacting on neighbouring properties and the environment.

You must demonstrate that your business will not impact negatively on the environment or your neighbours or detract from the amenity of the area. Specific issues that you must address include:

• n Noise - whether your business will generate noise and how you plan to comply with relevant noise regulations. bbbCouncil may ask you to provide an Acoustic Engineers Report
  
• Waste disposal - Type and volume of waste produced and how this will be stored on site and then disposed of.
  
• Lighting - the yard and security lighting proposed. Lighting must not impact on neighbours.
  
• Privacy - how you will mitigate against any loss of your neighbour's privacy.
  
• Traffic and Parking - the estimated volume of traffic that will be generated by your business (staff, Customers etc) and the potential impact on traffic and parking in the surrounding area.

Compliance with other regulations

• For commercial uses - you will need to comply with Council's Parking Policy.
  
• If a Heritage Item - you will need to comply with DCP1 - Heritage and submit a Heritage Impact Statement as part of bbbyour application.
  
• If located in areas prone to bushfire - compliance with the Rural Fire Service Planning for Bushfire requirements.