Council demolition requirements
Demolishing a house in the Wingecarribee Shire Council area
What Wingecarribee Shire Council publishes about demolition approvals, heritage, trees and site conditions, read from its own pages on 21 September 2026 (updated 6 October 2026). The council or certifier confirms the pathway for your address.
Covers 42 suburbs we service across the Southern Highlands and Wollongong.
How the council handles demolition approvals
Wingecarribee Shire Council lists demolition among development that may be approved as complying development, a fast-track CDC from the council or an accredited certifier when the development standards are met. Development that isn’t exempt or complying needs a DA, lodged through the NSW Planning Portal.
Heritage items and conservation areas
Wingecarribee Shire Council requires consent for all demolition of any building on a heritage site and strongly discourages demolishing heritage items and period buildings in conservation areas. Complying development isn’t available for locally listed heritage items, and if demolition is approved the council would require a photographic and written archival record of the building first.
Conservation areas the council names: Berrima Conservation Area, Berrima Landscape Conservation Area, Bowral Conservation Area, Bundanoon Conservation Area, Anglewood Conservation Area (Burradoo), Burradoo Landscape Conservation Area, Burrawang Conservation Area, Joadja Conservation Area, Mittagong Conservation Area, The Maltings Conservation Area (Mittagong), Argyle Street North Conservation Area (Moss Vale), Argyle and Browley Streets Conservation Area (Moss Vale), East Street Conservation Area (Moss Vale), Throsby and Arthur Streets Conservation Area (Moss Vale), Throsby Park Conservation Area (Moss Vale), Valetta Street Conservation Area (Moss Vale), Aitken Road Conservation Area (Bowral).
Trees on the block
Wingecarribee Shire Council requires a permit to prune or remove trees that are heritage listed or in a heritage conservation area, mapped for biodiversity, habitat for threatened species, or required to be kept by a development consent. Removing 10 or more trees needs a DA, and penalties apply if the procedure isn’t followed.
Flood and bushfire mapping
Wingecarribee’s Bush Fire Prone Land Map, certified by the NSW Rural Fire Service, took effect on 15 July 2025 and adds a medium-risk category that includes grasslands. Complying development isn’t allowed on BAL-40 or flame zone land, and on lower-risk bushfire prone land it needs a BAL certificate from an accredited consultant.
Fees, bonds and public land
Before a construction certificate is issued, Wingecarribee Shire Council requires the fees set in the development consent, such as security deposits and developer contributions, to be paid. A security deposit held by the council is released after the Occupation Certificate, once the approved work is complete.
Council pages change. Treat this as a starting point and confirm requirements with Wingecarribee Shire Council or your certifier before setting a demolition date. Wingecarribee Shire Council website
The same across NSW
What applies in every council area
Council requirements sit on top of state rules that do not change from one area to the next.
Approval pathway
Most house demolition needs either a development application to the council or a complying development certificate from the council or a registered certifier under the state Demolition Code. Heritage items and conservation areas are generally excluded from the complying pathway.
Read the approvals guideLicensed demolition
Demolition work is licensed by SafeWork NSW. Gabrael holds restricted demolition licence AD202697 (DE2) and lodges the required notifications for the work it carries out.
How to check a contractorAsbestos
Suspected asbestos must be assessed before the building is disturbed. Our Class B licence AD211249 covers bonded, non-friable material; friable asbestos is removed by our Class A licensed partner.
Asbestos before demolitionUtilities
Water, sewer, electricity, gas and telecommunications are disconnected or abolished through the providers before demolition, and Before You Dig Australia is checked for services.
Utility disconnections guideNeighbours
Approval conditions commonly set working hours and neighbour notice, and a dilapidation report protects both sides where buildings sit close to the boundary.
Neighbours and noticeWaste
Concrete, timber and metals are sorted for licensed recycling and asbestos goes to an approved disposal facility with documentation. Some councils ask for a waste plan with the application.
Where the waste goes
Suburbs we service in this council area
Suburbs that sit across a council boundary appear under each council. We confirm the council for the exact address before preparing an application.
- Alpine
- Avoca
- Avon
- Aylmerton
- Balaclava
- Balmoral
- Berrima
- Bowral
- Braemar
- Bundanoon
- Burradoo
- Burrawang
- Canyonleigh
- Colo Vale
- East Bowral
- East Kangaloon
- Exeter
- Fitzroy Falls
- Glenquarry
- High Range
- Hill Top
- Joadja
- Kangaloon
- Medway
- Mittagong
- Moss Vale
- New Berrima
- Paddys River
- Penrose
- Renwick
- Robertson
- Sutton Forest
- Tallong
- Wattle Ridge
- Welby
- Werai
- Wildes Meadow
- Willow Vale
- Wingello
- Woodlands
- Yarrunga
- Yerrinbool
Start with your property
Planning a demolition in the Wingecarribee Shire Council area?
Send the property address and what needs to go. We check the council, planning controls and heritage status for the address, then arrange a free site assessment.
7am to 7pm, seven days.