Application tracker
Every DA by stage, council, planner and client, with references, contacts and a full activity history.
Town planning software: DA trackers & client portals
Town planners: every DA, deadline and document in one place. No more chasing council by memory.
Applications live in a spreadsheet, information request deadlines sit in someone's Outlook, the traffic engineer is three emails behind and the developer rings every Tuesday for an update. We build application tracking, deadline, consultant and client portal systems for town planning consultancies, then we host them and look after them.
Looking for development application tracking software that actually fits a planning practice?
A planning consultancy runs dozens of applications at once across different councils, each sitting at a different stage with its own clock ticking. Pre-lodgement notes, lodgement fees, information requests, public notification, referral agency responses, negotiated conditions and the odd appeal. Most practices hold it all together with a master spreadsheet, a shared drive with folders nested ten deep and a senior planner who just remembers. Until they go on leave.
Wollopit builds custom software for town planners around how your practice actually works. Every application gets a record with its council, references, stage and statutory dates. Deadlines remind the right person before they bite. Sub-consultants get tasks with due dates instead of polite chasers. Clients log in to see where their DA is at. Fees, variations and disbursements are tracked per job and flow to Xero or MYOB. We connect the tools you already use and look after the lot on our own servers.
01The problems
What we hear from town planners
Does your town planning consultancy have these problems? Here's how we'd fix them.
Most planning practices we talk to know the planning scheme backwards and run the business on a spreadsheet nobody fully trusts. It works fine until an information request period quietly runs out.
- The problemThe master spreadsheet nobody trustsForty live applications in one sheet, half the statuses out of date and three versions floating around the shared drive.How we fix itOne application board showing every job by stage, council and planner, updated as work happens.
- The problemStatutory clocks kept in headsConfirmation periods, information request periods, notification and decision periods all run on different rules and different days.How we fix itStatutory dates calculated per application with business days and council holidays, plus reminders before anything lapses.
- The problemInformation requests land in an inboxCouncil sends an RFI to one planner's email and the response deadline goes into a calendar if you're lucky.How we fix itRFIs logged against the application with every item listed, owners assigned and a response date counting down.
- The problemSub-consultants chased by emailTraffic, stormwater, ecology, bushfire and acoustic reports all due at once and every one needs three follow-ups.How we fix itConsultant tasks per job with due dates, upload links and automatic nudges when a report is running late.
- The problemDocuments scattered everywherePlans in Dropbox, reports in email attachments, council correspondence in someone's downloads folder.How we fix itEvery plan, report and letter filed against the application with revisions tracked and the current set always obvious.
- The problemClients ring for updatesDevelopers and homeowners call or email every week asking where their DA is at.How we fix itA client portal showing stage, next steps, outstanding items and documents, so the calls dry up.
- The problemFee proposals written from scratchEvery new enquiry means copying an old Word proposal and hoping you changed the address.How we fix itFee proposal templates by application type with scope, exclusions and stages, accepted online and turned straight into a job.
- The problemScope creep never gets billedA second RFI round or a changed site layout eats hours that never make it onto an invoice.How we fix itVariations raised against the job, approved by the client and billed through Xero or MYOB.
- The problemNobody knows if a job made moneyTime goes into a timesheet app, fees into accounts and no one lines them up until the end of the year.How we fix itTime, fees and disbursements per application with live job profitability and WIP reports.
- The problemConditions forgotten after approvalThe decision notice arrives, the job gets closed and the client misses a condition that needed action before plan sealing.How we fix itConditions of approval logged as a checklist with responsible parties and dates, shared with the client.
- The problemPrecedent research starts from zeroSomeone did a similar dual occ in the same zone two years ago but nobody can find it.How we fix itA searchable history of past applications by council, zone, use and outcome.
02What we build
Solutions
What we build for town planners. Usually all talking to each other.
Pick the one that's hurting most or join the whole lot up. Everything is built around how your team works, not the other way round.
Statutory deadline engine
Confirmation, information request, notification and decision periods calculated per application with business day rules.
RFI manager
Information requests broken into items, assigned to planners or consultants and tracked to a response.
Consultant coordination
Sub-consultant tasks, briefs, due dates, upload links and automatic reminders per job.
Document register
Plans, reports and correspondence filed per application with revision control and transmittals.
Client portal
Clients log in to see progress, outstanding items, documents and invoices for every job they have with you.
Enquiry & fee proposals
Website enquiries captured, site details pulled in and fee proposals built from templates then accepted online.
Timesheets & job costing
Time logged against applications and stages, with budgets, burn rates and profitability per job.
Fees, variations & disbursements
Council fees, consultant costs and variations recorded per job and invoiced through Xero or MYOB.
Public notification tracker
Notification periods, sign photos, submissions received and compliance letters kept together.
Conditions of approval checklist
Every condition logged with who owns it, when it's due and what evidence closes it out.
Precedent library
Past applications searchable by council, zone, use and outcome, with key reports attached.
A website that wins work
Fast, clear and built to rank for 'town planner' plus your region, with an enquiry form that feeds the system.
03The systems
The big ones
Your whole practice, on one system.
These are the systems planning consultancies ask us about most. Each works on its own and they get properly useful once they're joined up.
Application tracking
Every DA, every stage, one board.
Each application gets a proper record: site, council, references, assessment level, planner and client. The board shows what's at pre-lodgement, lodged, in information request, on notification or awaiting decision. Filter by council or planner and the Monday meeting runs itself.
- Board view by stage
- Council, references and assessing officer
- Assessment level and application type
- Planner and team assignments
- Site details with a map pin
- Full activity history per job
- Filters by council, planner and client
- Weekly status report in one click
- Linked referral agency details
- Closed jobs kept for precedent
Deadlines & RFIs
Statutory clocks that remind you first.
Statutory periods are calculated from the dates you enter, counting business days and skipping the Christmas shutdown. When an information request lands every item is listed, assigned and counted down. The right person hears about it well before it becomes a lapsed application.
- Business day calculations
- Christmas and public holidays handled
- Information request items assigned
- Extension requests logged
- Reminders by email and SMS
- Escalation to a director if overdue
- Deadline calendar across all jobs
- Stop the clock and restart dates
- Responses linked to the RFI item
- Audit trail of every date change
Consultant coordination
Sub-consultants who deliver on time.
Brief the traffic engineer, ecologist or stormwater consultant from the job itself. They get a task with a due date and an upload link, then gentle nudges if it slips. You see every outstanding report across every application without opening your inbox.
- Consultant directory by discipline
- Briefs sent from the job
- Due dates tied to lodgement
- Upload links with no login needed
- Automatic reminder nudges
- Outstanding reports across all jobs
- Consultant quotes recorded
- Costs passed to disbursements
- Revision requests tracked
- Response time history per consultant
Client portals
Clients see progress without ringing.
Developers, builders and homeowners log in to see where each application sits, what's outstanding and what happens next. Documents, decision notices and invoices are all there. Repeat developers see every job they have with you in one place.
- Stage and next step per job
- Plain English status updates
- Outstanding items from the client
- Documents and decision notices
- Invoices and payment status
- Online fee proposal acceptance
- Multiple jobs per client
- Builder and architect logins
- Update emails when stages change
- Branded with your practice
Fees & job costing
Know which jobs actually pay.
Fee proposals come from templates, accepted proposals become jobs and time is logged against stages. Variations, council fees and consultant costs are recorded as they happen. Invoices flow to Xero or MYOB and WIP is there whenever you ask.
- Fee proposal templates by type
- Online acceptance and deposits
- Fixed fee and hourly stages
- Timesheets per application
- Budget burn alerts
- Variations approved by clients
- Council fees and disbursements
- Invoices to Xero or MYOB
- WIP and debtor reports
- Profitability by job type and council
04How it changes
Before and after
An information request, wolloped.
Here's how an RFI could change. Every practice works differently, so we map yours first.
Before
- RFI lands in one planner's inbox
- Response date worked out by hand and put in Outlook
- Consultants emailed and chased all week
- Revised plans saved in three different folders
- Client rings asking what the letter means
- Extra hours never make it onto an invoice
After
- RFI logged against the application with every item listed
- Response deadline calculated and reminders scheduled
- Consultant tasks sent with due dates and upload links
- Revised plans filed against the job with revisions tracked
- Client sees a plain English update in their portal
- A variation is raised and approved before work starts
05Services
Everything under one roof
Software, websites and systems for town planners.
Whether you're starting fresh or upgrading what you've got, it's one team from the first sketch to the support call.
Custom software for town planners
Built around how your town planning consultancy actually runs: application tracker, statutory deadline engine and the admin in between, in one system you own.
Websites for town planners
Fast, hand-built websites that rank for the searches your customers make and turn visits into enquiries, bookings or orders.
Town planning consultancy system upgrades
Running on spreadsheets, old software or a platform you've outgrown? We move your data across and upgrade in stages so the business never stops.
Apps and portals for town planners
RFI manager and consultant coordination: customer and staff portals that work on any phone without an app store.
Integrations and automation
We connect Xero, MYOB and Microsoft 365 so information moves on its own and nobody retypes it.
Hosting, support and care
Managed hosting, updates, backups and security for your town planning consultancy, looked after by the people who built it.
06Integrations
Connections
Plays nicely with what you already use.
We connect to the tools your practice relies on, work alongside platforms you're happy with or replace the ones holding you back.
- Xero
- MYOB
- Microsoft 365
- SharePoint
- Google Workspace
- Dropbox
- Synergy
- Harvest
- NSW Planning Portal
- MyDAS2
- Nearmap
- Google Maps
- QGIS
- ArcGIS
- Bluebeam
- Adobe Acrobat
- DocuSign
- HubSpot
- Stripe
- Twilio SMS
07How we work
The process
Some people dip their toe in. We turn up in a rebreather.
We get properly below the surface of your town planning consultancy: the systems, the busy days and the jobs everyone hates. Then we fix the bits that matter most first.
- 01
Think
We sit with your planners and admin team, follow a few applications from enquiry to decision and work out where the time and deadlines are slipping.
- 02
Archi-tech
We plan it before writing code: your application stages, statutory rules, councils, consultants, clients, fees, hosting and cost.
- 03
Build
Real engineering, shown to you early and often. Usually the application board and deadlines first, so you get a win before the next RFI lands.
- 04
Look after
We host it, maintain it and keep improving it. When the planning rules change or something breaks you call the people who built it.
08Questions
FAQ
Things town planners ask us.
Something else on your mind? Ring 0423 011 252 and ask the people who'd build it.
Can it track applications across many councils?
Yes. Each application records its council, references, assessing officer and contacts, with reporting across all of them so you can see your whole workload at once.
Can it work out statutory deadlines for us?
Yes. We set it up around the planning rules you work under, counting business days and holidays. You enter the key dates and it calculates the periods and reminds the right people before they lapse.
Does it lodge applications with council for us?
Lodgement still happens through council portals or the state planning portal. The system keeps the references, receipts and dates from lodgement so everything after it is tracked.
Can sub-consultants upload reports without an account?
Yes. Consultants get a secure upload link for each task so reports land against the right application without anyone forwarding emails.
Will clients see everything we see?
No. You choose what shows in the portal. Clients get plain English stages, outstanding items and the documents you share, while internal notes stay internal.
We already use practice management software. Do we have to switch?
No. If Synergy, Harvest or your accounts software is doing its job, we build around it and connect to it. If something's holding you back we'll show you what replacing it involves before anything changes.
How much does a planning system cost?
It depends on what you need, so we quote up front once we understand it. No surprise invoices, no lock-in and you own what we build.
How long does it take?
Smaller pieces like an application board or client portal can be quick. Bigger systems are planned in stages so you get the first win early instead of waiting for everything at once.
Who looks after it once it's built?
We do. We host it on our own managed servers and keep it updated and secure. When you need a change you ring the people who built it.
We already have systems. Can you upgrade them instead of starting again?
Usually, yes. Most town planners we work with keep what's working and upgrade the rest in stages. We move your data across, connect the old and new while we switch and retire the old system only when the new one is proven.
Contact
Got a town planning consultancy problem? Consider it wolloped.
Tell us what's slow, broken, manual or missing. You don't need a spec, just describe what's going on.