About
Planning advice from the other side of the counter.
EH Planning is an independent Sydney town planning consultancy, founded by Ethan Howe, a Specialist Assessment Planner with a background in council development assessment.
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Principal planner
Ethan Howe
My background is as a Specialist Assessment Planner at the City of Sydney. I assessed applications across almost every type of development in the city: small bars, restaurants and licensed venues, gyms, student accommodation and co-living, events and temporary structures, hotels, offices and retail, mixed use buildings, homes and heritage items. I wrote the reports that recommended approval or refusal, and worked on matters that went to the Land and Environment Court.
That work showed me how often good proposals struggle for avoidable reasons: missing information, arguments that miss the point, or a design that ignored a control until it was too late. I started EH Planning to fix that from the applicant's side.
Today I work directly with business owners, homeowners, architects and builders across Greater Sydney. Every engagement gets my personal attention, from the first conversation to the final determination.
- Specialist Assessment Planner, City of Sydney
- Assessment of hospitality, student accommodation, events, commercial, mixed use, residential and heritage proposals
- Experience on Land and Environment Court matters
- Qualifications in urban planning and building surveying
How I work
Four commitments.
- 01
Straight answers
If a proposal is unlikely to be supported, you will hear it early, with the reasons and the alternatives.
- 02
Fixed fees
A written scope and a fixed fee before work begins, so there are no surprises.
- 03
Direct access
You work with the principal planner, not a junior, from the first call to determination.
- 04
Prepared to be assessed
Every report is written the way an assessing officer reads it.
Where we work
Across Greater Sydney.
We work with councils right across Greater Sydney, with particular depth in the City of Sydney, the eastern suburbs and the North Shore. Councils include:
- City of Sydney
- Woollahra
- Waverley
- Randwick
- Bayside
- Inner West
- North Sydney
- Willoughby
- Ku-ring-gai
- Northern Beaches
- Canterbury-Bankstown
- Parramatta
- Ryde
- Lane Cove
Free consultation
Tell us about your site.
A free 20 minute call by phone or video with Ethan. No obligation, no hard sell. You leave with a clear view of where you stand.
- The likely approval pathway for your proposal
- The main risks, and how to manage them
- A fixed fee proposal within 48 hours if you want to proceed