Major reforms for New South Wales planning system aim to curb 'maze' of current process

ABC NEWS (Australia)

It's been described as a "maze” and a "barrier" to new homes. Now the state's planning system is set to be overhauled to speed up housing approvals. It's being touted as the biggest reform to the process in almost 50 years

Transcript

00:00Complex and unwieldy are the more polite descriptors.

00:06Australia's worst planning system.

00:09Not only the worst system in the country, but the worst system pretty much in the world.

00:13But the diagrams said it best.

00:15This is the current planning system today.

00:18Complicated, difficult to navigate, to build a house, to build an apartment.

00:23You have to run through that maze.

00:26A bill introduced to Parliament today promises to slash red tape.

00:30The centrepiece is the Development Coordination Authority,

00:33a single front door for advice on behalf of all government agencies.

00:37Entrenched in legislation will be the three-person panel

00:40assessing state significant developments, the Housing Delivery Authority.

00:44And the onus will be reversed so small changes like renovations

00:47are deemed authorised unless rejected by a council within ten days.

00:51That's going to be a lifeline to cut out the time that sort of months

00:55and dads and homeowners often spend getting their house applications through.

00:59It can't get any worse than it is at the moment.

01:01The reforms are the product of bipartisan work.

01:04Oppositions shouldn't always oppose.

01:06The Coalition has provided input for months.

01:09I can't emphasise enough how pro-housing, how pro-reform we are.

01:13While the opposition has sounded support, the Greens have voiced criticism,

01:17saying the proposed new authority could silence legitimate concerns

01:20from independent government agencies.

01:23Developers have been calling for this in New South Wales for a long time

01:27and today they have been delivered the gift.

01:31The reforms are the biggest changes to planning laws enacted almost 50 years ago,

01:35but housing advocates warn it's no quick fix.

01:38This is a generational challenge and it's going to take a generation to unpick.

01:42So future generations have somewhere to live.

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