The Property Council of Australia has backed a new report which found that New South Wales’ complex development assessment system needs to be overhauled.
The Department of Planning’s Planning Professionals Task Force report was set up by the Minister for Planning to recommend ways of overcoming the shortage of planners in NSW.
The report found that the state’s complex DA system was draining planning professionals from local government.
NSW’s executive director Ken Morrison – a member of the task force – urged the Government to head warnings that the complexity of the system was causing planning professionals to leave councils in droves.
“It’s good to see the Government addressing this very important issue. The Task Force made a clear finding: the complexity of the system is causing planners to leave local government in frustration.
“The report says that simplification of the planning system at the local level would reduce the administrative burden on planners. Things are pretty bad when the planning system is to complex even for those who work in it,” he added.
The Planning Institute of Australia has labelled the work environment of planners in local government as “toxic” due to the complexity of the system, competing pressures from applicants and the community, and an over-politicisation of the merit assessment of applications.
The Task Force report raised several options for reform: including expanding exempt and complying categories of development, using independent panels as consent authorities to take the politics out of decision making, and allowing applicants to pay an additional fee for a fast track assessment.
The Property Council also encouraged the Government to consider other innovative training, encouraging para-professional level of qualification, planning flying squads to assist stressed councils, and job exchanges with the private sector.
“The report contains a wide range of innovative recommendations and we hope these receive favourable consideration,” Morrison concluded.
By Kathryn O’Meara