- Developing property, for example through rezoning, subdividing, building, vegetation clearing or planting, or changes of use (for leased or owned property)
- Purchasing property
- Preparing property for sale
- Coastal properties and those affected by climate change
- Hobby farm designs
- Dual occupancy developments
- Bushfire hazard assessments
- Threatened species reports
- Heritage
- Environmentally sensitive land management
- Providing information, negotiating with government, devising and implementing solutions for people who have breached a property or environmental law
- Climate change
- Biodiversity management
- Bushland management plans
- Mediation in development and building
- Clarification of Council and State requirements (opportunities and constraints)
For a full list of services provided by our associates, scroll down.
To assist people with decisions about property on the Central Coast, Highlight Consulting publishes a free monthly e-newsletter, with or without a list of properties which are currently for sale with development potential. Email your request for a subscription. We safeguard your email address.
Significant State and local government constraints apply to property, therefore a Development Application will usually be required for any substantial change in a property. Highlight Consulting prepares Development Applications for clients and negotiates their assessment and determination by Councils, the State Government or Land and Environment Court. Increasingly, a planning proposal will be required for large or complex proposals, which Highlight Consulting will prepare and submit in consultation with you.
If a Development Application requires an accompanying Statement of Environmental Effect, Environmental Impact Statement, Bushland Management Plan, bushfire, coastal management, geotechnical or ecological report or advice and assessment under the Biodiversity Conservation Act, Highlight Consulting provides that for you.
Some clients operate under a number of State Acts and Council requirements: for example, environment, town planning, engineering, building and heritage. Therefore we project manage and facilitate approvals with Councils and the State Government. We also assist clients to implement the conditions of Development Consent imposed upon them.
Highlight Consulting takes a broader role in communications which includes presentations, submissions, reports and advocacy. We will also assist individuals and groups to respond to government, by preparing submissions on draft plans, policies and strategies (by the State and Council).
Associates cover fields related to development, town planning and building, including tourism, retail, flora and fauna/ ecology, surveying, hydrology, archaeology, Aboriginal and European heritage issues, engineering, design, building surveying and certification, acoustics, traffic, visual analysis, carbon emission reductions, carbon trading, environmental audits (commercial and industrial), coastal hazard engineering, bushfire hazard, social impact assessment, liquor licence applications with community impact statement, flooding, on-site effluent disposal, water and energy efficiency, water cycle management, climate change science, threatened species management, emergency management and incident management plans, nutrient control, contamination, cyclepaths, project feasibility, project financing, legal issues for development, resource recovery, green buildings, valuers, landscape architecture, bushland management and bush restoration, sustainable building designs, hard and soft landscaping, waste management plans and sustainability engineering (including buildings).
Dr Monks is a Certified Environmental Practitioner (no. 256, 2009-current).