# NSW Development Application Leads – Council DA & Planning Data (`ted_s/au-planning-leads`) Actor

Fresh NSW council development applications (DAs) as scored, trade-tagged sales leads. Pool, solar, reno, new homes. US$0.03/lead, no personal data.

- **URL**: https://apify.com/ted_s/au-planning-leads.md
- **Developed by:** [Theodore South](https://apify.com/ted_s) (community)
- **Stats:** 2 total users, 1 monthly users, 100.0% runs succeeded, 0 bookmarks
- **User rating**: No ratings yet

## Pricing

from $30.00 / 1,000 lead returneds

This Actor is paid per event. You are not charged for the Apify platform usage, but only a fixed price for specific events.

Learn more: https://docs.apify.com/actors/running/actors-in-store.md#pay-per-event

## What's an Apify Actor?

An Actor is a serverless cloud program that runs on the Apify platform. It has two run modes.
In Batch mode, an Actor accepts a well-defined JSON input, performs an action which can take anything from a few seconds to a few hours,
and optionally produces a well-defined JSON output, datasets with results, or files in key-value store.
In Standby mode, an Actor provides a web server which can be used as a website, API, or an MCP server.

Apify vocabulary and the platform model are defined once, in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md.

## How to integrate an Actor?

If asked about integration, you help developers integrate Actors into their projects.
You adapt to their stack and deliver integrations that are safe, well-documented, and production-ready.

Do not guess an integration path. Every one of them is in the agent quickstart at https://apify.com/agents.md: the Apify MCP server, Agent Skills with the Apify CLI, the JavaScript and Python clients, the REST API, and the account-free path for an agent with no human to sign in. It also carries the rule on stating cost before the first paid run.

For examples already wired to this Actor's own input schema, see the [API](#api) section below.

Each client library has reference documentation the quickstart does not restate: [JavaScript/TypeScript](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs.md) (`npm install apify-client`) and [Python](https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs.md) (`pip install apify-client`).

# README

## NSW Development Application Leads (Council DA & Planning Data)

Get newly lodged **council development applications** in NSW as clean, scored **construction leads**, filtered by council, trade and project cost.

### What this actor does

- Pulls new DAs from the **NSW Planning Portal open-data API** (official government open data, no login)
- Adds trade tags (pool, solar, roofing, extension, new dwelling, demolition, commercial fit-out, +11 more)
- Gives every lead a 0-100 score from project cost, application status and trade signals
- **"Only new" mode**: scheduled runs return only DAs you haven't seen, so you never pay twice for the same lead
- No personal data: applicant/owner names are never collected

Coverage: **NSW only** today (all councils on the NSW Planning Portal). VIC and QLD are planned.

### Who uses it

#### 1. Trades lead generation (pools, solar, roofing, landscaping, builders)

Example: "pool DAs in Northern Beaches + Hills Shire, cost > $80k, daily at 7am → email".
A DA is lodged months before construction starts, so you reach the owner or builder before the job is quoted. Think of it as **DA leads for tradies**: new pool, solar, renovation and new-home projects in NSW, delivered as they're lodged.

#### 2. Property investors and developers (real estate)

Example: "all multi-dwelling and subdivision DAs in Canterbury-Bankstown, last 90 days".
Shows where **development activity** is clustering and which streets are going to duplexes or townhouses: **planning application data** that maps the **development pipeline in NSW**.

#### 3. Suppliers and B2B sales (building materials, kitchens, windows, finance, insurance)

Example: "new dwellings > $1m across Sydney, weekly → Google Sheets for the sales team".
A live territory list of upcoming builds for prospecting and forecasting demand: **construction project leads** and **building industry data for Australia's** largest state.

### Input

| Field | Description |
|---|---|
| `councils` | Exact NSW council names, e.g. `Northern Beaches Council`. Empty = all of NSW |
| `daysBack` | Lodged within this many days (default 14) |
| `maxItems` | Max leads per run (default 200) |
| `tradeFilter` | Only leads matching these trades, e.g. `["pool","solar"]` |
| `minCost` | Minimum estimated cost (AUD) |
| `onlyNew` | Skip DAs returned in previous runs |
| `keyValueStoreName` | Named store holding seen DA IDs (use one per saved search) |

### Example output

```json
{
  "id": "NSW:PAN-679271",
  "daNumber": "PAN-679271",
  "councilReference": "DA2026/1286",
  "council": "Northern Beaches Council",
  "address": "9 GORDON STREET CLONTARF 2093",
  "lodgementDate": "2026-09-30",
  "status": "Under Assessment",
  "description": "Demolition; Dwelling house; Alterations or additions to an existing building or structure; Erection of a new structure",
  "estimatedCost": 1223100,
  "costBand": "$1m-$5m",
  "trades": ["extension", "new-dwelling", "demolition"],
  "leadScore": 95,
  "sourceUrl": "https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/"
}
```

Look up any DA on the NSW Planning Portal tracker by its `daNumber` or `councilReference`.

### Pricing and ROI

Pay per result: **US$0.03 per lead returned** (US$30 per 1,000, event `lead-returned`), with no other actor charges; you pay normal Apify platform usage on your plan. A daily run for one council and one trade usually returns a handful of leads, which costs cents per day. One won pool, solar or extension job pays for years of runs. Cap spend with `maxItems` or a max-cost-per-run limit, and with `onlyNew` you never pay twice for the same DA.

### Schedule it

1. Save a task with your councils/trades and `onlyNew: true`.
2. In Apify Console > Schedules, run it daily (e.g. `0 7 * * *`, Australia/Sydney).
3. Add an integration to send each run's new leads to email, Slack, Google Sheets, Zapier, Make or a webhook.

### Use with AI agents (MCP)

This actor works with the Apify MCP server (`https://mcp.apify.com`), so Claude, ChatGPT and other MCP clients and AI tools can call it as a tool, e.g. "find pool DAs over $500k lodged in Northern Beaches this week". Output fields are flat, typed and stable, which suits agents.

### FAQ

**Which states?** NSW today (all councils on the NSW Planning Portal). VIC and QLD are planned. Star the actor to get notified.

**Are these building approvals?** They're development applications at the *planning* stage. Complying development certificates (CDCs) and ABS building approvals statistics are different datasets.

**How fresh is the data?** It's updated on each run, pulled live from the NSW Planning Portal API as published at run time. Schedule daily runs to stay current.

**Is it legal to use?** The data is published by the NSW Government as open data. Use leads in line with the Spam Act 2003 and Privacy Act 1988 (no personal data is included).

**Can I get a sample?** Run with `maxItems: 20`. It costs US$0.60.

### Data source and notes

Data comes from the NSW Government ePlanning Online DA open data API (government open data). The description is built from the DA's listed development types; estimated cost is as declared by the applicant.

# Actor input Schema

## `states` (type: `array`):

Source modules to run. Currently only NSW.

## `councils` (type: `array`):

Exact council names as used by the NSW Planning Portal, e.g. 'Northern Beaches Council'. Empty = all councils.

## `daysBack` (type: `integer`):

Only DAs lodged within this many days.

## `maxItems` (type: `integer`):

Maximum leads to output (each is a billable event).

## `tradeFilter` (type: `array`):

Only output leads tagged with at least one of these trades. Empty = all.

## `minCost` (type: `integer`):

Skip DAs below this cost. 0 = no minimum.

## `onlyNew` (type: `boolean`):

Skip DAs already returned by a previous run using the same key-value store.

## `keyValueStoreName` (type: `string`):

Named key-value store that remembers seen DA numbers for onlyNew mode.

## Actor input object example

```json
{
  "states": [
    "NSW"
  ],
  "councils": [
    "Northern Beaches Council"
  ],
  "daysBack": 14,
  "maxItems": 200,
  "minCost": 0,
  "onlyNew": false,
  "keyValueStoreName": "au-planning-leads-state"
}
```

# Actor output Schema

## `leads` (type: `string`):

All leads returned by this run, one item per development application.

# API

You can run this Actor programmatically using our API. Below are code examples in JavaScript, Python, and CLI, as well as the OpenAPI specification and MCP server setup.

## JavaScript example

```javascript
import { ApifyClient } from 'apify-client';

// Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
// Replace the '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token
const client = new ApifyClient({
    token: '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>',
});

// Prepare Actor input
const input = {
    "states": [
        "NSW"
    ],
    "councils": [
        "Northern Beaches Council"
    ]
};

// Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
const run = await client.actor("ted_s/au-planning-leads").call(input);

// Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if any)
console.log('Results from dataset');
console.log(`💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/${run.defaultDatasetId}`);
const { items } = await client.dataset(run.defaultDatasetId).listItems();
items.forEach((item) => {
    console.dir(item);
});

// 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/js/docs

```

## Python example

```python
from apify_client import ApifyClient

# Initialize the ApifyClient with your Apify API token
# Replace '<YOUR_API_TOKEN>' with your token.
client = ApifyClient("<YOUR_API_TOKEN>")

# Prepare the Actor input
run_input = {
    "states": ["NSW"],
    "councils": ["Northern Beaches Council"],
}

# Run the Actor and wait for it to finish
run = client.actor("ted_s/au-planning-leads").call(run_input=run_input)

# Fetch and print Actor results from the run's dataset (if there are any)
print(f"💾 Check your data here: https://console.apify.com/storage/datasets/{run.default_dataset_id}")
for item in client.dataset(run.default_dataset_id).iterate_items():
    print(item)

# 📚 Want to learn more 📖? Go to → https://docs.apify.com/api/client/python/docs/quick-start

```

## CLI example

```bash
echo '{
  "states": [
    "NSW"
  ],
  "councils": [
    "Northern Beaches Council"
  ]
}' |
apify call ted_s/au-planning-leads --silent --output-dataset

```

## MCP server setup

```json
{
    "mcpServers": {
        "apify": {
            "type": "http",
            "url": "https://mcp.apify.com/?tools=fetch-actor-details,ted_s/au-planning-leads"
        }
    }
}
```

The hosted server signs you in with OAuth on first connect, so no API token belongs in this config. Clients without OAuth support can send an `Authorization: Bearer <APIFY_API_TOKEN>` header instead, using a token from API & Integrations in Apify Console (https://console.apify.com/settings/integrations).

## OpenAPI specification

Download the OpenAPI definition: https://api.apify.com/v2/actors/YCNN2pXCMN3QTOxe3/builds/KImCrrdNo7CfuE155/openapi.json