NSW Who owns approved DA after expiration period of Option?

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JRW

Member
22 March 2021
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I own a property on the Central Coast of NSW which has had a DA for Subdivision into 5 lots approved by Council with "Conditions of Consent"

A brief history.
A Developer took out a Two Year Option on purchasing 75% of my property in August 2016 and submitted a DA with a Central Coast Council which was given approval with "Conditions of Consent" in November 2017.
The conditions imposed re road widening were somewhat onerous and he put it all on the backburner while he attempted to sell "off the plan" the majority of the houses that he planned on constructing in order to finance the development. This delay meant a further Two Year Option was required which expired in August 2020.
Just prior to the expiration of the Option, the Developer submitted an "Amended DA" to Council which is still currently awaiting Council Approval.
The Developer no longer has any rights to the property but we are receiving conflicting advice as to whether we have any rights to the DA given that the Developer paid all required costs for the DA.
As things stand, the Developer has a DA that has been approved and a current Ammended Application which is still in situ on the same property despite having no rights to the property itself. I approached the Developer with an offer to pay for his approved DA on my property but this offer was rejected.
Any advice on where we stand legally will be most welcome. Should we just go back to "square one" ... engage our own people and start the whole DA process again?