“At the time of writing this report there is a back log of over 270 approvals ranging from registration of Privately Certified buildings, through to Development Applications, Construction Certificates, Occupation Certificates and local approvals and more,” council’s director development and environmental services Susan Appleyard informed council’s monthly meeting on February 28.
“The Planning and Development Section of Council has been struggling for two years to meet the backlog of works required to be undertaken since the introduction of the NSW Planning portal and the other changes to the NSW Planning system over the past 18 month in particular.”
At Tuesday’s meeting, council also resolved that RAMJO (Riverina and Murray Joint Organisation) continue to lobby state Ministers regarding the impact that the planning reform is having on local council's resourcing.
Council agreed to allocate $115,000 to council’s planning and development sections in the current budget, to be funded from unrestricted cash, to appoint the additional staff it is seeking.
The service review underway for the planning and building surveying services of council is to be finalised as a matter of priority and presented to council as part of finalising the draft 2023/24 and beyond budget.
On July 1, 2021, it became compulsory for all planning approvals to lodged via the NSW Planning Portal. The portal has now been expanded to include all applications to be lodged via the portal.
The portal is the problem and its use has been expanded resulting in a no-win situation according to Ms Appleyard.
She said it is frustrating for everyone, even including state government staff.
System wasn’t broken, why change it?
Cr Andrew Kennedy, a builder, said he has to employ an additional person solely dedicated to the portal side of things. “The state government has got a lot to answer for,” he said. “The system wasn’t broken, why change it?” Ms Appleyard said there needs to be change at state level.
Council’s general manager Adrian Butler and Mayor Pat Bourke said the portal has been discussed at RAMJO level, including last Friday, and added, in answer to a question from Cr David Fahey OAM, that the portal is indeed an ongoing topic being pursued by RAMJO.
Mayor Bourke said discussions have been held with the planning minister and Member for Albury Justin Clancy about the portal.
Mr Butler said the problem of insufficient planning staff is widespread and not helped with the state government snapping up staff from councils.
He encouraged recruitment of suitable planning staff from overseas which he said has been making some impact in Australia, including around the Leeton area.
Ms Appleyard emphasised the portal has caused significant increases in workload in the planning and building surveying sections of council including in managing the many in the community who struggle with this significant change and at times submit incomplete applications.
“In May 2022, council along with the member councils of RAMJO, sent a deputation to the Planning and Local Government Ministers in attempt to outline the issues and get assistance on ground for councils. The Department has put forward packages of assistance, however, to date the only assistance that Federation Council has been successful in obtaining, is $50,000 to link the Planning Portal to council's existing computer operating systems,” she said.
“This grant was provided to all councils in NSW. The increasing complexity of the legislative requirements along with the planning portal has meant that the level of service from the planning and building services department has dropped dramatically through no fault of the team.”
The majority of larger and medium size councils in the region have employed additional staff and provided additional resources to the planning and building surveying services over the past two years according to the director development and environmental services.
“Little strategic land use planning is currently being undertaken as there is no capacity within the teams to undertake the works,” Ms Appleyard said.
“This is not a problem just for this council, however like any problem this council encounters, it is tackling it with proposed solutions.”
