Lismore Development Application Assistant

An MCP server and knowledge base for assisting with Development Applications (DAs) in the Lismore Local Government Area, NSW, Australia.

Features

• Structured Tools: Parking rates, zone info, fee calculator, flood requirements
• Document Search: Search DCP chapters for specific provisions
• DA Checklists: Get required documents based on development type
• Offline PDFs: 67MB of official planning documents stored locally

Public Server

A hosted, public instance is running at https://lismore-da-mcp.onrender.com — no install required. Add it as a remote MCP connector in any MCP-compatible client (Claude, etc.) using its Streamable HTTP endpoint:

https://lismore-da-mcp.onrender.com/mcp

This is an open, unauthenticated endpoint (no API key) — it only serves public NSW planning guidance, not private data. It's hosted on Render's free tier, so the first request after a period of inactivity may take 30-60 seconds to wake up.

In Claude Code, add it with:

claude mcp add --transport http lismore-da-public https://lismore-da-mcp.onrender.com/mcp

To run your own copy instead (locally or self-hosted), see Quick Start below.

Quick Start

1. Install Dependencies

cd /Users/jacksonfraser/lismore-da-agent
uv sync

2. Configure Claude Code

The .mcp.json file is already configured. Claude Code will automatically detect and load the MCP server.

3. Run Claude Code

cd /Users/jacksonfraser/lismore-da-agent
claude

Available MCP Tools

23 tools in total.

Lookups

Tool	Description
lookup_zone_by_address	Find the LEP zone applying to a street address (live NSW Government mapping lookup)
lookup_site_constraints	Height limit, minimum lot size, heritage, bushfire and flood mapping for an address
get_zone_info	Zone objectives, permitted uses, and development standards for an LEP 2012 zone
list_zones	List all zone codes available in Lismore LEP 2012
check_permissibility	Check whether a specific land use is permitted (with/without consent) in a specific zone
get_definition	Standard Instrument LEP definition of a land-use term, plus related terms
list_definitions	List all land-use terms with a definition available
get_parking_rates	Off-street parking requirements for a development type, with shortfall calculation
list_parking_types	List development types with parking rate data available
get_setback_requirements	Front/side/rear setback requirements for residential development
get_residential_standards	DCP Chapter 1 standards: site coverage, private open space, landscaping, car parking design
get_flood_requirements	Flood planning level and floor level requirements, with exemptions
check_referrals	External agency referrals (integrated development) a proposal may trigger
calculate_da_fees	What a DA costs: lodgement fee, Council's notification and technology charges, and the Section 7.11 developer contribution — which on a commercial DA is usually far larger than the fee
get_da_checklist	Required documents for a DA, by development type
get_contact_info	Council contacts and duty planner availability

Documents

Tool	Description
search_dcp	Full-text search across DCP chapters, LEP documents, forms, and fee schedules
read_dcp_section	Read a page range from a specific DCP chapter PDF
list_documents	List all available planning documents

Statement of Environmental Effects (SEE)