NSW State Government Planning Reforms
In 2004 the NSW State Government announced its Planning Reforms Package aimed at increasing the efficiency of the NSW planning system.
The key legislation of the Reforms Package is the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 and the Building Professionals Amendment Act 2008, which was assented to by Parliament in June 2008, and will involve a gradual roll out of a wide range of changes to the development system in NSW. In terms of those changes affecting the approvals processes, the Department of Planning had advised NSW Councils that Regulations which govern the details of the new processes are likely to be introduced within the next 6 months.
The main changes to the development approvals processes include:
Development Applications (DAs)
Current and proposed timeframes are as follows:
- Period in which Councils can reject DAs on the basis of incomplete submissions: currently 7 days, proposed 14 days
- DAs not requiring external approval or concurrence requirements - Minimum period for applicants to initiate “deemed refusal” LEC appeals: currently 40 days, proposed 50/70 days
- DAs requiring external approval or concurrence - minimum period for applicants to initiate “deemed refusal” LEC appeals: currently 60 days, proposed 90 days
Other key changes affecting the assessment of DAs are:
- The “stop the clock” provisions during the assessment period will be abolished;
- The shortening of concurrence timeframes for external agencies from 40 to 21 days; and
- The reduction of the available period for applicants to lodge an appeal to the Land and Environment Court from 12 to 3 months after the issue of a Council determination, or lapsing of a deemed refusal period. This change alone encourages the development industry to follow the legal path, as opposed to a longer negotiation timeframe.
NSW Housing Code
On 12 December 2008 the NSW Minster for Planning, Kristina Keneally announced the proposed introduction of the major Planning Reforms initiatives, the NSW Housing Code, a gazetted statutory planning instrument which will take effect from 27 February 2009. The Code provides for standardised development controls for exempt and complying development for certain forms of residential dwelling forms across the state, which will over ride current local planning provisions. These types of provisions have been in existence among NSW councils over the last 10 years, but have not been widely promoted or used, mainly due to the onerous criteria of certain councils.
The Code seeks the reduction of the need to submit development applications for development activity relating to single dwelling houses and alterations and additions to existing dwelling houses, through a greater reliance on the Code’s new exempt and complying development provisions.
To utilise these more straightforward planning processes, the Code provides standard criteria which must be met. To qualify for a Complying Development process you must satisfy an extensive range of base criteria, such as a minimum site area of 450m2, a maximum height limit of 8.5 metres, site coverage, landscaping and boundary setbacks. The provisions also include a range of environmentally sensitive areas, such as bushfire prone land, acid sulphate soils, flooding affected areas, heritage, and coastal and environmental protection zones. Such provisions rule out many areas of Tweed Shire.
Other key features of the Code’s Complying Development provisions is that they must be determined within 10 days, and do not require any notification through the receipt or determination of such proposals,
and either Council or a private certifier are only bound by a requirement to notify adjoining neighbours 2 days prior to commencement of building work.
To find out more on the NSW Housing Code, please visit  www.planning.nsw.gov.au.
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