A business may be operated from your home without Council approval, providing the following conditions are met:-

home-based business means use of part of a dwelling by a resident for non-residential purposes if:

(a) no more than 50m² of floor area of the dwelling is used for the non-residential purposes; 

(b) the person conducting the business normally uses the dwelling as their principal place of residence; 

(c) it does not involve employment of more than 2 workers who do not reside at the dwelling; 

(d) any load on a utility is no greater than for a domestic use; 

(e) there is no activity that causes electrical interference to other land; 

(f) there is, on the site, no storage of hazardous materials; 

(g) there is, on the site, no display of goods for sale; 

(h) there is, on the site, no advertising of the business other than 1 sign (non-illuminated) not exceeding 0.2m² in area; 

(i) there is, on the site, no refuelling, servicing or repair of vehicles not owned by a resident; 

(j) not more than 2 commercial vehicles are on the site at any one time and no commercial vehicle on the site exceeds 2 tonnes; and

(k) all vehicles used by the business are parked on the site.

However, the definition may be more specific and/or change depending on each particular land use zone. For example, in the General Residential Zone, the definition is further quantified by reducing the number of commercial vehicles to 1 per site (rather than 2), the number of non-resident employees to 1 (rather than 2) and the total floor area for the business to 30m2 (rather than 50m2).

It is recommended that you contact Council’s Planning Department to confirm whether a permit is needed, prior to commencing business.

If you cannot meet all of these conditions, you may be able to meet other exemptions, or alternatively seek planning approval for the use under the Derwent Valley Interim Planning Scheme 2015. The Derwent Valley Interim Planning Scheme 2015 can be viewed at http://iplan.tas.gov.au.

Please contact Council’s Development Services Department on 6261 8530 for further details.