UNIFORM planning and development laws could yield "huge advantages" for the national economy, says NSW Planning Minister Frank Sartor.
Mr Sartor will put planning on the agenda of the Council of Australian Governments next month when he asks ministers from other states to agree to commission research on the benefits of a national regime. "Investors would have a lot more certainty wherever they go in the country," Mr Sartor told The Weekend Australian yesterday.
His plan comes as a new report by financial services company KPMG reveals recent planning reforms in NSW, Victoria, South Australia and Queensland have moved in similar directions -- removing local councils' control over key infrastructure, reducing red tape and forcing councils to fast-track low-risk developments, such as standard home extensions.
Mr Sartor said the increase in environmental consciousness in the 1970s had led to tighter regulation around building and development, but it was now recognised across the states and territories that it was time for the pendulum to swing back.
"I don't think we're going to end up with identical laws, but there ought to be some common rules and principles," he said.
Mr Sartor, who managed to push a raft of key reforms through NSW parliament this week after a long battle with councils, said shifting the reform push to COAG would take the heat out of the battle between state and local governments over planning.
Under the reforms legislated in NSW this week, minor work, such as extensions and single-storey homes, will require a permit rather than going through a full-scale development application process.
There will be new rules limiting the costs councils can pass on to developers in the form of levies.
Private certifiers will have a bigger role in development approvals and most major infrastructure projects will be determined by independent panels of experts, rather than by Mr Sartor or councils.
The KPMG report, which was commissioned by Mr Sartor, finds most of the states have acted on planning processes that are "ill-equipped to respond to the pace and magnitude of development applications brought on by increasing economic activity and regulatory creep".
It says the average time for councils to approve a new home has blown out to 78 days in NSW and 120 days in South Australia. Building codes have streamlined approvals for low-risk projects, with most states aiming to increase the proportion of straightforward, "complying" developments to 50 per cent of the total.
The reports says consistency in planning reform will reduce costs for builders and home owners, improve housing affordability, clear infrastructure bottlenecks, and "unleash economic competitiveness around the country".
The Australian | Imre Salusinszky, NSW political reporter | June 21, 2008
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