Development dries up across the state

BY ALEX MCDONALD
The City of Sydney remains the development capital of NSW despite a drop in building activity, a government report has found.
The total value of the city’s development applications this year was $3.81 billion, 42 per cent higher than the $2.68 billion in DAs approved over the previous 12 months.
Although the number of developments worth more than $5 million has risen, the overall number of applications is down by 4.6 per cent.
The five NSW councils with the highest number of DAs approved were Blacktown (2,872), followed by the City of Sydney (2,482), Lake Macquarie (2,303), Shoalhaven (2,066) and Newcastle (2,055).
“Councils are the workhorse of the planning system, last year processing over 82,000 development applications worth $22.3 billion,” Planning Minister Kristina Keneally said in a statement.
“That’s important now more than ever, given that the population of NSW is projected to increase by 33 per cent over the next 30 years.”
Temora, Hay, Broken Hill, Murrumbidgee and Berrigan Councils are the five fastest councils for processing DAs, each averaging less than 20 days.
Legal appeals against council decisions also dropped by 15 per cent. The Department of Planning said this could be due to the overall drop in the number of DAs being assessed.
“It’s no secret we’re in hard economic times and that’s being felt across the state, including in the development industry,” Ms Keneally said.
“At year’s end, the high end of the market was doing well with developments worth more than $5 million up since this time last year. However it is likely that the global economic crisis will have an impact on the development industry.”
Ms Keneally said certain councils had shown a marked improvement in the time it took to approve developments.
“There are also a number of councils in NSW which have significantly improved their performance, including Mosman, which has slashed its development application processing time by 41 per cent, as well as Strathfield, Holroyd, and Inverell councils which also stepped up to the plate.
“The report shows some councils which need to improve their performance, including Ashfield Council which took an average of over five months to determine development applications.”
Ms Keneally said 97 per cent of DAs were for works of less than $1 million in value.
“Two-thirds of DAs last year were valued under $100,000. These are working families building and renovating houses, and small businesses expanding their workplaces.
“In fact 59 per cent of the development applications lodged this year were for new single dwellings or residential alterations and additions.
“It’s my intention that reforms to the planning system will help speed these applications up, lifting the burden of the planning system on working families and small businesses, and freeing council staff to focus on bigger projects.
“In particular, a revised housing code will mean that simple housing projects could be approved after they pass a checklist rather than a complicated development application process.
“This year, like last year, we still only had 11 per cent of development projects approved in this simpler way, highlighting that we continue to need to reform this area.”