“Making real data available helps us hold State agencies accountable and potentially reduce planning approval timeframes. The figures released today indicate some green shoots of improvement” said Brad Armitage, HIA Executive Director NSW. 

“However, the target 90 percent timeframe for the State Agencies is still not high enough as it falls short of the legislated requirements and some key agencies such as the Rural Fire Service and the Environment Protection Authority, are already lagging well behind” added Mr Armitage.

Whilst HIA also welcomed the launch of the Council League Table last year, we note that many councils are still under-performing and are falling well below the expected DA assessment rate. For example, Wingecarribee, and Georges River Councils are still taking an average of over 200+ days to assess a DA, when the statutory requirement is 40 days for most applications.

“We call for stronger measures to reduce assessment timeframes, and one guaranteed way to do that is to increase the use of complying development, emphasised Mr Armitage.  

“If we are going to meet the state’s housing targets and address the housing shortage, then more needs done now to speed up the time it takes to get a planning approval” concluded Mr Armitage. 

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