A number of changes to Planning in NSW have been announced recently.
Last week the NSW Premier Morris Iemma announced the amalgamation of 14 Government agencies, including the NSW Heritage Office, into two larger departments to improve service delivery and efficiency. The Heritage Office will be incorporated immediately into the Department of Planning. The NSW Heritage Office began life as a branch of the Department of Planning in 1978 and in 1996 the then Minister Craig Knowles split it off as an independent government agency.
Planning Minister Frank Sartor has also announced new planning reforms to be introduced into NSW Parliament this week to deal with poorly performing and slowcoach councils and unfair local levies.
Minister Sartor said the Environmental Planning and Assessment Bill 2006 will help restore public confidence in the local planning process and ensure council delays don't impede economic growth. "The Iemma Government has slashed red tape for major developments to encourage jobs and investment in NSW," Mr Sartor said.
"But some councils continue to drag their heels on development applications, for no discernible reason. The State only determines about 400 major development applications a year, while local government deals with 125,000 DAs."
"These new laws expand on currently available powers and allow more flexibility to target problem areas. They will be a last resort when a council is failing to deal with planning matters efficiently."
The proposed laws will allow the minister to appoint a planning administrator, or a planning assessment panel, when councils are underperforming.
Currently, planning administrators can only be appointed under certain conditions, including technical breaches of planning laws. A number of NSW councils already use independent planning and assessment panels to advise on applications.
Mr Sartor said current trends amongst councils could undermine job creation and investment: Average processing periods for DAs have increased by 20 per cent over the past four years, to an average of 53.4 days; and the latest figures show four out of ten councils take longer than 40 days on average to determine applications, with one council taking an average of 160 days. Councils' legal costs have skyrocketed by 79 per cent over the past five years to $33.8m.
"Ratepayers are forced to foot the bill when these councils end up in the Land and Environment Court because they haven't made a decision," Mr Sartor said.
The proposed reforms will also: Allow the minister to amend, repeal or approve a council development contribution plan, amid concerns councils are drawing up unreasonable wish lists; Implement the Government's commitment to fund important regional infrastructure in growth areas, including Sydney's north-west and south-west growth centres; and allow the Planning Minister to amend a development control plan or ask a council to do so.
As of mid February, Palerang Council had 242 DA's on hand, some stretching up to 566 days.
Planning Minister Frank Sartor has also announced a new reform to make local planning processes more efficient. From February 22, councils will be asked to submit proposed local environmental plans to a panel of experts to determine whether they should be put on exhibition.
Mr Sartor said the new system will improve planning turnaround times and stop council and government resources being wasted on 'dead-end' LEPs.
"Every year, the NSW Government's Parliamentary Counsel prepares 5,500 pages of draft local environmental plans," Mr Sartor said. "But only 20 per cent of this work ever becomes law, because so many draft LEPs do not comply with State or regional planning objectives. The new panel will include representatives from my Department and local government, as well as external experts as required. It will examine proposed land zoning and key development controls for consistency with set planning criteria, including regional strategies, and compatibility with nearby land," Mr Sartor said.
"Councils will then be advised whether they should proceed to exhibition within a targeted response time of 15 days. Draft LEPs can clog up the system for months before they are knocked back. At the end of the day, it is the NSW government which must approve and publicly gazette these proposals." Mr Sartor said. "We want to give local councils, the community and investors upfront advice and certainty on whether the proposals are sound and can proceed further."
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