As part of efforts to curb the housing crisis, the New South Wales Government has introduced new measures to increase council and State Government accountability for the approval of housing developments.
The State Government said that addressing the housing crisis is a shared responsibility, and that all levels of government must do their part.
As councils assess approximately 85 per cent of all residential development applications, the State Government has introduced a new Statement of Expectations and league tables as their performance is critical to confronting the housing crisis.
In addition, state agencies’ concurrence and referral timeframes will be published.
Regionally Significant Development Applications referral times to planning panels will be published from August, State Significant Development assessment timeframes for infill affordable housing will be published from September 2024 and TOD accelerated precinct assessment timeframes in 2025.
This data will monitor the State Government’s performance so that it also is held accountable.
To provide further transparency around the government’s expectations, the New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces has released a new Statement of Expectations Order that establishes timeframes for councils on development assessment, planning proposals and strategic planning.
The council league table and Statement of Expectations Order are part of the State Government’s Faster Assessments program. This includes $200 million in financial incentives for councils that meet the new expectations for development applications, planning proposals and strategic planning.
These financial incentives will go towards grants for councils to fund more green space such as parks, sporting facilities and smaller pocket parks, plus maintenance of local streets and footpaths which councils maintain.
If a council consistently underperforms over time, the New South Wales Minister for Local Government has the authority to issue a Performance Improvement Order. A Performance Improvement Order outlines the actions that the Minister requires to be taken to improve the performance of the council.
These measures have been established to speed up the delivery of homes for people in every stage of life.
New South Wales Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Paul Scully, said that the government is committed to building a better New South Wales with more homes so young people, families and workers have somewhere to live.
“The government has announced a suite of housing reforms over the past 12 months aimed at delivering more homes faster,” Minister Scully said.
“We are now introducing new performance standards and monitoring because if we don’t measure performance then we can’t monitor it properly.
“Councils approve the vast majority of residential development in our state, so tracking their performance is critical if we together want to meet our housing targets. But we will also track the performance of the State Government as well to hold ourselves to account.
“The updated Statement of Expectations, alongside improved monitoring, reporting, support and compliance initiatives will help councils and the state to speed up development assessments and improve transparency and accountability in the planning process.
“The New South Wales Government will work collaboratively with councils and support them to meet assessment expectations.
“There is $200 million in financial incentives available to councils to help achieve housing targets and improve planning performance including development application timeframes. The funding will help deliver local infrastructure including roads, open spaces and community facilities for growing communities.”
New South Wales Minister for Local Government, Ron Hoenig, said that local government has a critical role to play in approving housing across New South Wales.
“The State Government is instituting a range of measures to support councils but where there is continuing underperformance despite that support, I will step in,” Minister Hoenig said.
“As Minister for Local Government I have the authority to issue Performance Improvements Orders to councils to rectify issues of ongoing underperformance.
“The State Government is serious about addressing the housing crisis and while this is a last resort, we will explore every avenue available to us in order to build more homes.”
LGNSW responds
Local Government New South Wales (LGNSW) President, Darriea Turley, said that she welcomes the opportunity for transparency offered by the new State Government planning league table and encourages the State Government to go further to provide a greater level of detail and a more accurate evaluation of all players in the housing supply pipeline.
Cr Turley said that while local government played an important role in planning for new housing supply, it did not build houses and could not control the number of dwellings actually built by private or government landowners or the time taken by the government to respond to council referrals.
“Local government continues to stand ready to play our part, with other players in the housing supply pipeline being held to account for their role in the process too,” Cr Turley said.
“Councils are just one of several players in the housing supply pipeline and while local government continues to approve 97 per cent of all DAs, they play a limited role in the housing construction and completion stages, which are driven by the market.
“Additionally, councils don’t control the speed of responses from New South Wales Government departments involved in the process.
“A league table for councils won’t lift the performance of every part of the housing eco-system. To boost housing supply, all of the different players need to be held to account.
“It’s welcome that the New South Wales Government will be monitoring and reporting on the performance of its own departments.
“The New South Wales Government should also publish the rezoned dwelling capacity across the state and the volume of DAs approved but where construction has not commenced or been completed. This will help to identify where market conditions such as access to finance, escalating construction costs or land banking by developers need government attention.
“These indicators will go a long way to seeing how effectively the government and the development sector are responding to the housing crisis.”
Cr Turley said councils understood the challenges and were working incredibly hard with limited resources and skills shortages.
“Councils are doing anything and everything within their means to improve performance while ensuring they continue to look for the best planning outcomes for their current and future communities, including the provision of much needed community infrastructure.”
LGNSW said that it would welcome the State Government highlighting councils that are performing well against the measures set out in the league table, while working to understand the particular challenges faced by other councils and determining appropriate levels of support.
“As the department’s own website notes, there is a range of reasons why timeframe performance may vary between councils, and these can include the volume, type and complexity of development applications, and the proportion of those development applications requiring concurrences from the New South Wales Government,” Cr Turley said.
“The league table data also doesn’t account for the days and weeks councils are waiting for responses to requests for additional information.
“Skills shortages and a council’s resourcing can also play a role, meaning the league table data does not tell the whole story.
“We look forward to continuing to work in partnership with the New South Wales Government and the private sector to find solutions to the housing crisis.”
Image: Taras Vyshnya/shutterstock.com
