What stops Version 2
Version 2 blockages
Everything that stops the machine making Version 2, the report on the planning rules in force from 1 July 2026 (Missing Middle). Version 1, Support's report as it is today, has its own page: Blockages. Type your suggestion in any row; it saves as you type. Press Talk it through to discuss a row with Claude.
| # | Blockage | Sections it stops | What clears it | Frank's suggestion | Who acts | Status | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Version 2 design is not finished. | Every new section | Frank finishes the sections on the board's Version 2 column; Approval Pathways and Legislation Summary have no design yet. "What is possible on your block" has a first mock-up | Frank | Started | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 2 | No Version 2 template. | The whole report | Version 1 fills Support's Word template. Version 2 needs its own page design, built as a web page that prints to PDF, which also removes Word | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 3 | The 2026 rules are not yet machine rules. | Every section that states a rule | Turn Territory Plan E1 (1 July 2026), NI2026-303 and NI2026-304 into the machine's rules, each with its clause; the rules register still holds the 2023 versions | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 4 | Setback schedules on the 2026 tables. | Boundary Setbacks Schedules 1 and 2 | Load NI2026-303's front, side and rear tables and check them against the old schedules, clause by clause | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 6 | Where a new block's width is measured is not settled. | Split the block | NI2026-304 2.1 sets a minimum width but not where it is measured. Suggest: at the street. Calwell passes at the street, fails at the narrowest point | Frank | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 7 | The existing-roofs page is not automatic yet, so Version 2 cannot say how much more can be built. | The roof page | Build the tracing into the machine: every roofed area to the gutter, never the shadow south of a roof (rule, 3 Oct), on the newest photo. Test on 3 Oct: Calwell house 192 m² against Support’s 191 m². Rule (Frank, 3 Oct): unless 98% confident the outline is at least 95% accurate, the drawing says "Shadow Outline Impacts Accuracy" | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 8 | The newest aerial photo is not used. | All the map pages | The ACT's current imagery service exists; switch to it from the September 2023 photo | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 9 | Trees are not found in the photo; the tree register is not checked. | The trees page | Find trees in the newest photo, as Support does by eye; check the ACT Tree Register for protection | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 10 | Rear setback next to a road or reserve. | Building zone, setbacks | 4 m where a road or reserve is behind (Support, 2 Oct); the machine must check what is behind each block | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 11 | The approvals each development needs, under the 2026 rules. | Approval Pathways | Read the Planning (Exempt Development) Regulation and the single-dwelling exemption declaration (NI2025-492) to say what is exempt, what needs building approval only, and what needs development approval | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 12 | Pictures for every kind of development. | What is possible on your block | Dual occupancy and knock-down use website illustrations; built CGFB photos would be better | Frank | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 13 | Machine access to Pricefinder and Before You Dig. | Floor plan, Before You Dig | Drafts to Mitali are in Frank's Outlook; keys go to Isaac | Frank | Started | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 14 | A Google key for Street View. | Front Access | For houses with no Allhomes photo; Isaac sets it up | Isaac | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 15 | Runs only while Claude has a session open on Frank's PC. | The whole report | An AI key and scheduled jobs on the server; the draft to Isaac is in Frank's Outlook | Isaac | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 16 | Question: Where is a new block's minimum width measured? | Split the block | NI2026-304 2.1 sets 10 m (mid-sized) and 14 m (large) but not where: at the street, at the building line, or at the narrowest point. Calwell passes at the street, fails at the narrowest point | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 17 | Question: Is there still a minimum block size for a Secondary Residence? | What is possible on your block | Territory Plan E1 (1 July 2026) and NI2026-303 set 40 to 90 m² and one per block, but no block minimum; the old report said 500 m². The GCONS Q&A says 90 m² at most (#339) and a DA is needed (#326), but nothing on a block minimum. Confirm none applies | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 18 | Question: Dual occupancy density: 54 per hectare, rounded up? | What is possible on your block | No minimum block size is already answered in the GCONS Q&A (#355: none in RZ1 or RZ2). Still open: NI2026-303 5.3 allows 54 attached homes per hectare, rounded up, so 4 on a 704 m² block. Confirm that reading | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 19 | Question: Unit titling two homes in RZ1: is there a minimum block size? | What is possible on your block | The GCONS Q&A already says yes, after both are built and approved, by unit title subdivision (#319, #322, #374, #376). Still open: NI2026-304 2.2 says its 350 m² table "is not intended to address unit titling of individual units". Is there a minimum block size for unit titling a dual occupancy? | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 20 | Question: Rear setback 4 m where a road or reserve is behind: which clause? | Building zone, setbacks | Support said so on 2 Oct; the machine needs the clause in NI2026-303 to apply it. The GCONS Q&A gives 3 m (lower floor) and 6 m (upper floor) to the rear boundary for a single dwelling on a large block (#195), but not the case of a road or reserve behind | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 21 | Question: Corner blocks: is there a rear boundary? | Building zone, setbacks | Support's procedure gives a front, a second front, sides and a rear; the rules register read it differently. The GCONS Q&A covers the second street frontage (#194: 2 m for multi-unit housing) but not which boundary is the rear | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 25 | Question: What is exempt from approval? | Approval Pathways | The GCONS Q&A already answers the approvals for a Secondary Residence (DA, #326) and a dual occupancy (DA, then building approval: #377, #394). Still open: what is exempt, or needs building approval only, for an extension and a knock-down rebuild (Planning (Exempt Development) Regulation, NI2025-492) | Emily Keane | Open | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 27 | How a split block might look: the test is not automatic yet. | Sub Divide your block | Moved from Version 1 row 17 (Frank, 3 Oct; the earlier talk and the mock-up are in that row's chat). Test a side-by-side split against NI2026-304: each new block at least 350 m² (handle not counted, §2.2), at least 10 m wide and 25 m deep for a mid-sized block or 14 m and 28 m for a large one (§2.1), battle-axe driveway limits (§12.1). No street-frontage minimum as such. Calwell: side by side just possible (about 10 m wide, 352 m² each); front and back fails | Claude | Open | 3 Oct 2026 |
Closed
Decided or done. Kept here with what was decided, and the conversation that settled it.
| # | Blockage | Sections it stops | What clears it | Frank's suggestion | Who acts | Status | Found |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Subdivision date: steps 2 and 3 not built, step 1 not calibrated. | Setbacks, "When the block was approved" | Decided by Frank, 3 Oct: the same rule as Version 1 (deposited plan number, then the suburb’s year); if neither settles it, default to the oldest date option (the older, stricter setback table) | Claude | Decided | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 22 | Question: Which front-setback table when the block's date is only estimated? | Boundary Setbacks Schedule 1 | Answered by Frank, 3 Oct: default to the oldest date option | Emily Keane | Answered | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 23 | Question: Plot ratio: gone for every RZ1 development? | Client Overview | Answered in the GCONS Q&A, 3 Oct: the 2026 specifications set site coverage, not plot ratio (#279, #213). Version 2 has no plot ratio line | Emily Keane | Answered | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 24 | Question: Site coverage 45% on subdivided blocks: when does it apply? | What is possible on your block | Answered in the GCONS Q&A, 3 Oct: 45% of each block created by subdivision, for a single dwelling in RZ1 and RZ2; 45% of the original block for multi-unit housing (#279, #332, #334). So both new blocks after a split | Emily Keane | Answered | 3 Oct 2026 | |
| 26 | Question: Can anything be built over an easement? | Building zone, Contours and Easement | Answered in the GCONS Q&A, 3 Oct: no new dwelling inside a stormwater easement (#447, #453); sewer and water need Icon Water's approval and clearances (#405, #447). The machine's rule: the building zone leaves stormwater easements out, and marks any other easement "needs the utility's approval" | Emily Keane | Answered | 3 Oct 2026 |