A new league table for New South Wales agencies could help councils explain development delays.
NSW councils have welcomed the State Government’s move to publish its own planning performance data, saying it sheds much-needed light on the development assessment (DA) process.
For the first time, a publicly available league table shows how 22 state agencies are performing when it comes to issuing advice or approvals – known as concurrences, integrated development approvals, and referrals (CIR) – as part of DA processes.
Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Rural and Regional Vice-President, Claire Pontin, says councils across the State support the added transparency.
“It’s good to see the State finally publish the data from its own agencies, as the council league tables have been published monthly since last July,” Pontin said.
The new league table is an interactive dashboard, updated monthly, that tracks how well state agencies and corporations are meeting legislated or agreed timeframes for CIR.
According to the NSW Government, it provides a six-month snapshot of performance and includes agencies with new CIR activity in the past two years.
Mayor Pontin said the tool helps complete the picture of why DA delays might occur.
“Of course, the league tables are not a perfect tool. They don’t account for the days and weeks councils are waiting for responses to requests for additional information,” she said.
“They also don’t account for the differences between councils that affect timelines, and these can include the volume, type and complexity of development applications, and the proportion of those development applications requiring concurrences from the NSW Government.
“Now that the Council League Tables can be read in conjunction with the data on State agencies, we are beginning to get a more realistic picture on why delays might be occurring.”
The State first committed to publishing this agency data in November 2023, alongside a promise to release approval times for all State Significant Developments (SSD). That SSD data has not yet been made public.
“LGNSW continues to call on the NSW Government to increase transparency around its own SSD approval times, particularly as it seeks to expand the use of the SSD pathway,” Pontin said.
She added that councils were already engaging in planning reform and willing to work with other levels of government.
“As the first sphere of government, closest to the people we serve, councils stand ready to work with State and Federal counterparts to deliver for our communities,” she said.
The state agency league table is part of broader efforts under the National Housing Accord to improve planning processes and accountability across all levels of government.
