Planning Portal Frequently Asked Questions

Once you have submitted your application via the Planning Portal, Council will be notified of your new application. Council staff will then review your application to determine if any additional information is required. Should any additional information be required, you will receive an email notification generated from the Portal requesting the relevant information to be submitted (via the Portal).

When Council is satisfied with the documentation submitted with your application, you will receive an email notification generated from the Portal requesting fees to be paid for your application. Once fees are paid, your application will be formally lodged with Council and progressed through for assessment.

Once Council has reviewed your application and is satisfied that all relevant documentation has been submitted, you will receive an email notification (in the form of a fee quote) requesting fees to be paid. The preferred option for payment is via credit card over the phone, however payment can be made in person at Councils Customer Service or by cheque in the post.

The NSW Application Tracker can be used by the general public to search for applications that have been submitted via the NSW Planning Portal.

The information publicly available on the Application Tracker includes the Council to which the application was submitted, the type and status of the application submitted, the Planning Portal application number and the type of development. Not all documentation submitted to the Portal is publicly available via the Planning Portal website or the NSW Application Tracker.

To reset your password you will need to first open the NSW Planning Portal. If possible, open it in Google Chrome as the Portal runs best in this browser.

Next, please select the ‘Forgot password’ hyperlink on the Login page.

You will be asked to input the email address for the Planning Portal account and click submit. You will then be sent a verification code.

If you have an account, an email will be sent to your registered address and you should receive a code. Enter this code into the reset password screen.

You will next be prompted to input a new password.

Remember, for all passwords, the following requirements apply:

• It must be at least eight characters long
• It must have a maximum of 16 characters
• Passwords can’t contain parts of the email address that exceeds two consecutive characters
• It must contain three of the following:
• Uppercase letters (A through Z)
• Lowercase letters (a through z)
• Numbers (0 through 9)
• The following non-alphabetic characters: ~! @ # $ % ^ & * ( ) _ + - = { } [ ] | \ : ; “ ‘ < > ? , . /

If your password is accepted, you will now be able to re-login to your account.

When you create a Planning Portal account, the system will automatically send you a validation email. This will be sent from email address [email protected] . If it is not in your inbox, please check your junk or spam email folders.

If it is not received, please add the email address [email protected] to your contact list and register once again.

When you are registering for an account on the Portal it is important to select the correct type of user. Selecting the user type will define the registration information you must provide and the type of user access that can be applied to your account. The choices are Applicant, Private Accredited Certifier, Council, State Agency, DPIE User or Property Developer.

Important to note is that developers and builders are only required to create a property developer account if they are intending to lodge a strata building bond with NSW Fair Trading. If this does not apply to you, create an applicant account instead.

Importantly, when you are at this stage of registering, there is an information icon that you can hover over to view the account type descriptions.

You are only able to submit an application through the Portal if your property is within a local government area that has signed up to use the service. Best advice is to contact your local council directly and ask. 

Snowy Valleys Council:  Ph 1300 275 782 (1300 ASK SVC) during business hours

In many cases, the issue here is that the person who received the email is the owner/applicant, but they are not the creator of the application.

Cases can only be accessed in the Portal by the creator.

The best option is to talk to the person who created the case on your behalf in the Portal (possibly your architect or a town planner) and ask them what is required of you.

If you were unable to find the answer on these pages, please contact ServiceNSW for assistance.

Call 1300 305 695 or email [email protected].