You don’t have to sign

Yes. If you’d be happy to approve the application after some changes, you can ask the applicant to amend (make changes) to the documents and bring them back for you to sign. These amendments might involve changing the position of a driveway, altering the height of a building extension, or moving a discharge point in a stream.

If you ask for amendments, make sure that:

• you’re signing the amended version of the plans, application form, and the AEE
• the affected person approval form refers to the amended documents, not the originals
• all the plans and drawings indicate which version they are and when they were modified
• you initial every page of the documents you’re signing, so it’s clear to the council that these are the versions you’ve seen and approved
• you date your signature.

You could deal with some changes or conditions through a side agreement (see Can I bargain about other things?).

Conditional approval means that you would write on the plans something like: ‘I give my approval on the condition that the driveway is moved half a metre to the right of the boundary.’ This is generally not a good idea. Most councils will not accept a conditional approval. They are very likely to treat it as non-approval, and will notify the application to all affected persons or ask the applicant to re-seek your unconditional approval.

So if you want changes, ask the applicant to amend the application documents and then sign the amended copies. This will give you more certainty about what will happen, and will mean that this is what the council will be considering.

Side agreements

Discussions about obtaining written approval may lead you to reach a private agreement, sometimes called a side agreement, with the applicant. A side agreement might include:

• A neighbour wants to build an additional storey on their house. Your agreement may be that they pay for opaque glass to be installed in your bathroom window to protect your privacy.
• A neighbour wants to double the size of a garage on your property boundary. Your agreement may be that they will seal the driveway that you both share.
• An applicant wants to set up a transport depot next door. Your agreement may be that they build a close-boarded fence along your common boundary to absorb the noise of moving trucks, or pay for insulation / double glazing for the neighbour.

A side agreement might also be called a letter of undertaking, or a deed of agreement.

There are no limits to what you might ask for in a side agreement. But to be fair, you should think about how you might be affected and limit your requests to things that might reduce or remove that effect.