The property industry has hailed plans for expert panels to take responsibility for approving larger projects as the most important reform to the state's planning approvals process in many decades.
The property industry has hailed plans for expert panels to take responsibility for approving larger projects as the most important reform to the state's planning approvals process in many decades.
The state government said today it plans to create expert panels to assess and approve infrastructure and development projects valued at more than $2 million in the metropolitan region and more than $1 million in regional areas.
The expert panels are part of a government plan to deal with industry concerns over slow and unpredictable approvals processes at local government authorities.
"The property development sector and everyone who wants sensible and fair planning processes are strong supporters of Development Assessment Panels, said the Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia, Mr Joe Lenzo.
The state's Urban Development Institute of Australia has welcomed the move, saying it will contain costs for developers which can face a blow-out in costs as a result of planning delays.
"[The panels] will be particularly important for urban infill projects where local politics can delay good projects for years," UDIA chief executive Debra Goostrey said.
The Property Council said it was the most important reform to the state's planning approvals process.
"The reform of the development assessment process comes at exactly the right time as WA is gearing up for more infrastructure projects and developments associated with the resources sector," executive director of the Property Council of Australia Joe Lenzo said.
"This will enable WA to avoid the approvals blockages that frustrated State development in the boom years."
Planning Minister John Day outlined the government's new approach at the launch of a discussion paper released today.
He said projects will be assessed and approved by a panel, comprising of three expert members and two local government representatives.
The government plans to create up to 15 expert panels, using a combination of single and joint panels.
The panels will remove duplication between local and regional planning approvals which often involved separate decisions by both local authority and the WA Planning Commission, Mr Day said.
"The development assessment panels will focus solely on determining development applications, creating a single and transparent decision-making authority," he said.
"This is a major part of the Liberal-National Government's agenda for reform of the State's approvals process."
Under the proposal, one panel will be dedicated to the City of Perth and a further five will work across the metropolitan region. An additional nine panels will cover regional areas.
Local Government Minister John Castrilli said the proposed scheme would not replace the planning and development functions of local authorities and that there would be strong local council representation on the assessment panels.
"The panels will improve approvals processes and reduce the regulatory red tape, with which many smaller local governments struggle," he said.
The WA Local Government Association deputy president Troy Pickard said the broad principle of improving the planning application process is supported by local councils.
"We welcome any opportunity to work with state government and the development industry to streamline development processes," he said.
"And we need to engage with our member councils to listen to any specific issue of concern."
The discussion paper is up for public comment until November 2.
The announcement is below:
All major metropolitan infrastructure and development projects valued at more than $2million will be assessed and approved by expert panels under plans for a new streamlined approvals process.
In regional areas, commercial, retail and infrastructure projects worth more than $1million would also be referred to the new development assessment panels which would operate throughout the State.
Planning Minister John Day outlined details of the new approach in a discussion paper released in Perth today and called for local government, industry and other stakeholders to make submissions.
Mr Day said a significant feature of the development assessment panels would be the creation of a single point of contact for the assessment and approval of major projects.
The Minister said applications that fell outside the criteria would continue to be determined by the relevant local government or the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC).
"The development assessment panels will focus solely on determining development applications, creating a single and transparent decision-making authority," he said.
"This is a major part of the Liberal-National Government's agenda for reform of the State's approvals process."
Mr Day said the changes were needed to remove duplication between local planning and regional planning approvals that often involved separate decisions by both a local authority and the WAPC.
"That level of duplication is costly and time consuming for developers, the State Government and local authorities," he said.
"We have also identified the need to boost the level of planning and technical expertise in assessing development applications while ensuring the appropriate level of local government representation in decision-making.
"This will prove especially effective in assessing complex developments by eliminating the need for local councils to refer applications to specialist committees and the costs of seeking outside expertise."
Under the proposal for development assessment panels, up to 15 panels would be created throughout the State using a combination of single and joint panels. Each panel would include three expert members and two local government representatives.
In the discussion paper, it is proposed that for the metropolitan area, there would be one single development assessment panel dedicated to the City of Perth and an additional five joint development assessment panels working across multiple local government areas
In regional areas, it is proposed that nine joint development assessment panels would be created, covering each of the areas covered by the WAPC.
Local Government Minister John Castrilli said the proposed scheme would not replace the planning and development functions of local authorities and that there would be strong local council representation on the assessment panels.
Mr Castrilli said the panel's introduction would allow local governments to combine their respective resources and benefit from the specialist expertise available.
"The panels will improve approvals processes and reduce the regulatory red tape, with which many smaller local governments struggle," he said.
The discussion paper on the implementation of development assessment panels will be available for public comment until November 2, 2009. Those received will be used to draft regulations giving effect to development assessment panels.
PROPERTY COUNCIL
The announcement by the Western Australian Government to established Development Assessment Panels is the most important reform to the State's planning approvals process in many decades.
"The property development sector and everyone who wants sensible and fair planning processes are strong supporters of Development Assessment Panels, said the Executive Director of the Property Council of Australia, Mr Joe Lenzo.
"The Property Council of Australia strongly endorses the key principles in the Government's implementation plan for Development Assessment Panels, announced today in a public discussion paper."
Metropolitan development projects valued at more than $2million will be assessed and approved by expert panels. In regional areas projects worth more than $1million would also be referred to the new development assessment panels which would operate throughout the State.
The panels would include three expert members and two local government representatives
"The plan for Development Assessment Panels outlined by the Government will streamline the approvals process. It will also remove the politics from the local government development assessment process.
"The expert panels will determine development applications according to their merits and how they measure up to planning policies. Unfortunately too many development applications today end up in the State Administrative Tribunal because of the difficult approvals processes in some local governments.
"Expert panels are also better equipped with the technical expertise to determine complex development applications.
"The reform of the development assessment process comes at exactly the right time as WA is gearing up for more infrastructure projects and developments associated with the resources sector. This will enable WA to avoid the approvals blockages that frustrated State development in the boom years," said Mr Lenzo.
CITY OF PERTH
The subject of changes to the planning process has been on the State Government agenda for some time and a wide-ranging paper entitled "Building a Better Planning System" was published in March 2009. The independent development assessment panels were one of the initiatives contained in the proposal. The actual words about development assessment panels in the report were:
"Development Assessment Panels. In cases of major projects that are likely to face significant delays and may be highly contentious, and in cases where major projects are proposed but there is limited local government technical capacity to undertake an appropriate level of assessment, Development Assessment Panels are being considered, as has been established in other States. Development Assessment Panels would include elected member representatives as well as independent experts." (page 15, section 1.18)
Today's document has gone substantially further than this and virtually leaves the City of Perth with the authority to determine applications for carports, shade sails, outbuildings and sheds.
Clearly, the "Building a Better Planning System" document did not fully describe the planned scope of authority for Development Assessment Panels.
While a reduction in red tape for approval processes is always welcome, it also needs to be balanced against Local Governments having a key role to play in the way development occurs within their boundaries. This has always been a fundamental role of Local Government.
The City of Perth has always been of the view that its Design Advisory Committee, which consists of professional experts and NO elected members, has always fulfilled a valuable role in the development approvals process. The City of Perth will now consider the detailed proposal that was published this morning and make comment back to the Minister for Planning.
One of the issues in the City of Perth that remains unresolved is the existence of multiple bodies with development approval powers in a small city of only 810 hectares. The document released today does not make any mention of developments that require East Perth Redevelopment Authority, Heritage Council or Swan River Trust approval. It has to be questioned how the development approval process within the City of Perth will be improved without consistent application within such a small area.
The City of Perth also questions the statement that it will only affect 16% of development applications considered by the City.
