Lane Cove Council
Private building certifier in Linley Point
Linley Point’s hazard maps are almost blank, yet harbour waterway rules cover nearly every lot. On this small riverside peninsula, CertifiBuild certifies houses, upstairs extensions, decks and pools.
NSW 2066
Class 1 homes and Class 10 structures
Local rules
A small riverside peninsula off Burns Bay Road
Tiny and residential
Linley Point is Lane Cove's smallest suburb at about 19 hectares. Housing is nearly all free-standing. The 2021 Census found no flats, and there is no shop, school or wharf. Burns Bay Road runs down the spine towards the Fig Tree Bridge, which first opened in 1885 as the earliest crossing of the Lane Cove River. About 74% of the land is zoned R2, where buildings can reach 9.5 metres and new lots need 550 square metres.
Clean hazard maps
The maps show no riparian land here, no acid sulfate soils and no bushfire risk. Council's plan maps no flood or landslide risk, and no conservation area or foreshore building line touches the suburb. Four heritage items appear in the listings. The house called Linley on Burns Bay Road, is State Heritage Register listed.
The harbour instead
Around 89% of Linley Point falls inside the harbour and waterways zone set by a state planning policy, more than any other Lane Cove suburb. Some lots are also close to mapped seagrass. Those rules focus on stormwater, works near the water and effects on the river.
Typical work
Common projects and how they get approved
What owners build here
With every home a house, Linley Point work is done house by house. Common jobs include:
- Upper level additions held to council's two storey ceiling and its minimum landscaped area.
- Knockdown rebuilds on falling ground, stepped to respect the one metre dig limit.
- Pools, timber decks and retaining walls built for lots that slope towards the river.
- Garages and carports, often squeezed onto narrow frontages along busy Burns Bay Road.
- Granny flats or dual occupancies on lots big enough for council's thresholds.
Work within the curtilage of Linley itself must clear the Heritage Act too, not just the planning consent.
How approval usually works
Because so few mapped exclusions apply, Linley Point is one of the easier places in the council to use a CDC (a fast-track approval under state rules), provided no heritage item affects the lot. Check your proximity to the four listed items first. Then think about water. Work near the river, new stormwater outlets and anything touching the waterway can draw in the harbour planning rules. Trees still need care, with consent triggered at four metres tall, five metres of canopy, or a trunk 150 millimetres wide. The state's newer housing areas for low and mid-rise homes stop short of the suburb, although a dual occupancy can still be possible with consent. CertifiBuild confirms early whether your job suits the fast-track route and answers questions without delay.
Our services
From approval to sign-off.
One certifier for your whole Linley Point job, from the first plan check to the occupation certificate.
Local questions
Questions we hear about this suburb.
No two lots in Linley Point are the same. Give us your address and we will check every map that affects it.
See the council pageDoes bushfire mapping apply anywhere in Linley Point?
No. Bushfire prone land is not mapped anywhere in Linley Point, which sets this small riverside suburb apart from much of Lane Cove. The hazard picture is unusually clear overall, with no riparian land, acid sulfate soils, flood or landslide mapping recorded. That removes a common source of extra construction cost for extensions and new homes. Other checks still matter, though. Confirm whether one of the four listed heritage items affects your lot, and plan stormwater carefully, because the harbour waterway rules cover most of the peninsula.
What do the harbour waterway rules mean for my renovation?
Around 89% of Linley Point lies within the harbour and waterways zone created by state planning rules, a bigger proportion than anywhere else in Lane Cove. Those provisions focus on works near the river, stormwater and any effect on the waterway, and some lots also sit close to mapped seagrass. For a renovation, drainage design deserves early attention. Show where roof and paving runoff will go, mark any new outlet, and flag work near the water. A complying development certificate (CDC) can still be open if no heritage item affects the lot.
Can I get a duplex approved in Linley Point?
Possibly, though it needs consent. The state’s low and mid-rise housing areas stop short of Linley Point, so the catchment-based options are not available. Even so, a dual occupancy can still be allowed on R2 land through a development application (DA) to Lane Cove Council, if the lot meets the council’s 750 or 900 square metre thresholds. Sloping blocks, the one metre limit on cut and fill, tree rules and the harbour waterway provisions will all shape the design. Measure the lot and check the heritage listings before commissioning plans.
Building in this suburb?
Send us the address first.
We check the local maps for your lot, confirm the approval path and quote in writing.