Operational development Q & A DCP Section 4.31

A basic definition of operational development is to be found in Parkes v SOS 11/1/1978 where operations were stated to result in some physical alteration to the land itself, as opposed to material changes of use which did not interfere with the actual physical characteristics of land. Although this statement is a little simplistic, and the definition it attempts is by no means that clear cut, it serves as a basic yardstick. As already described, operational development is divided into four categories, "building, mining, engineering and other operations", and each of these need to be looked at in turn to establish how they should be defined, and the various ways in which they have been interpreted over the years.