Twelve New South Wales councils have entered into a joint Electronic Housing Code Pilot Project with the New South Wales Department of Planning and the Local Government and Shires Association of New South Wales (LGSA).
Participating councils were announced by New South Wales Minister for Planning, Kristina Keneally, at the recent LGA Conference in Tamworth.
At the conference, a consultation protocol was signed, committing Local Government and the Department to closer consultation over issues that impact on each other. The project is the first step towards establishing an online system for lodging and processing development applications under the NSW Housing Code.
Kristina Keneally said the end game is to make it more cost effective for Local Government and the New South Wales Government to offer planning services online. She said it is part of a wider plan to set the pace for a New South Wales e-planning roadmap with a ten year vision for e-planning and a four year strategy.
“It will be a big win for New South Wales, with improved access to information and an easier to use, more transparent planning system,” she said.
President of the NSW Local Government Association, Councillor Genia McCaffery, said NSW councils were eager to support moves towards a simpler planning process.
“With the signing of this agreement we see a formal understanding that the Department will genuinely consult with Local Government on significant proposals and legislative changes,” she said. “This is imperative if Local Government is to continue to represent the best interests of their communities.
President of the Shires Association, Councillor Bruce Miller, said that an electronic system will help make the process more user friendly.
“The Project is going to help us identify any adaptations that need to be made before launching the program statewide,” he said.
The 12 councils chosen for the pilot are Bankstown, Blacktown, Gosford, Lake Macquarie, Liverpool, Port Macquarie-Hastings, Rockdale, Shellharbour, Sutherland, Tamworth, The Hills and Tweed.
Tweed Mayor, Warren Polglase, said the project will set the pace for other NSW councils to follow later in 2010 and onwards.
“The use of Housing Code based applications for the pilot will assist in fast tracking approval processes,” he said. “This will contribute to housing affordability through time and cost savings by reducing the resources needed to prepare, monitor and evaluate proposals, while also reducing holding costs through faster processing and approval times.
“We hope it will pave the way to demonstrating how – by collaborating across stakeholders and systems – we can reduce costs, further mitigate risks and deliver better outcomes for the Tweed community and all NSW communities.”
