It's not too often that councils and developers agree on ways of speeding up building approvals, but the maze of state agency "concurrences" required for some development applications frustrates them all.
In NSW, some government departments can take up to a year to respond to a council request for concurrence to a DA.
The white paper on planning reform – which referred to 232 clauses in planning instruments requiring a DA to be referred to a state agency at that time – proposed a one-stop shop to co-ordinate such referrals but the proposal was lost when the Legislative Council rejected the reforms.
Queensland has set up a one-stop shop, the State Assessment and Referral Agency, which handles all planning referrals, and it is required to respond to 60 per cent within 20 business days and 98 per cent within 40 days.
The Urban Taskforce, representing major developers, has called on the two main parties to commit to a one-stop shop in the coming election campaign.
"One area where both government and opposition must agree is to simplify the complex referral system that is adding months to the processing of applications," chief executive Chris Johnson said.
Dave Walker, the general manager of the Hills Council – one of Sydney's biggest development areas – agrees, saying many heads of state agencies had "no comprehension" of the drag their departments are placing on economic development.
He told them to "get out of your offices and come and talk to councils".
"I'm fed up with local government being slammed by the public and developers over the length of time it takes to process a DA, planning proposal or to deliver infrastructure," Mr Walker said.
"As long as councils are hamstrung with a plethora of requirements from various departments, we are destined to move slower than the community demands. Agencies and departments need to be accountable and on the same wavelength as the Department of Planning and councils."
