With local governments controlling $19 billion worth of
construction last financial year through more than 100,000 development
applications, Mr Sartor said their economic importance was too significant to
ignore.
“Yes, we do want a new agenda for reform and we want
that to be achieved over the next 12 to 18 months,” he told a lobby group
for residential developers at Parliament House yesterday.
Increasing the categories of building changes that do not
need development applications – known as “exempt and comply”
development – and stripping councillors of control over applications are among
adjustments aimed at streamlining the system.
Mr Sartor revealed that the ALP had made a strategic
decision to block him from campaigning on the issue at the last election
because he was targeted by the Opposition over a planning overhaul in the last
term.
“It wasn’t felt appropriate that I come out with any
great promises so I made no promises,” he said. He started the fresh term
with a tour of Melbourne, Brisbane,
Perth and Adelaide.
A statistic that concerned him was that NSW councils
processed twice as many development applications as Victorian councils.
“Do we have too many development applications for small matters in NSW?
Possibly … so we have to tackle that area, but … it is a difficult area,”
he said.
He invoked the possibility of “unused” but
“effective” powers of intervention into council business after
complaining that performance statistics supplied by local governments last year
were “very patchy and not complete”.
But with almost all development applications assessed by
councils rather than the Department of Planning, councils could not be fully
overridden.
Amid concern from the Local Government Association,
developers’ lobby groups have stepped up their campaign in recent weeks, aware
that change is most likely in the first two years of a government’s four-year
term.
The NSW Urban Taskforce wants changes that will free up
councillors to consider residential development applications. “It is the
planning system itself that needs changes so that local councils can improve
their performance,” its chief executive officer, Terry Barnes, said.
He wants electronic application processing, independent
councillors and greater use of the controversial system of employing private
certifiers – albeit those chosen and paid by council rather than developers.
Despite revelations in the Herald this week of allegations
surrounding the relationship between a developer and City of Canada Bay Council, most developers prefer to
deal with the State Government for big projects.
The Urban Development Institute of Australia –
which hosted yesterday’s event – is promoting an event titled “All the Way
with Part 3A”, referring to the controversial increase in powers for the
Department of Planning.
The Property Council of Australia claimed recently that
NSW residents waited an extra 7 million days for local councils to process
development applications.