Bathurst Regional Council has achieved development application (DA) assessment times well below the state average in the 2023/2024 financial year, according to the Department of Planning’s Council League Table.
Council General Manager, David Sherley said that in the 2023/2024 financial year, Council determined 446 development proposals via either Development Applications or Complying Development Certificates (CDC).
“The majority of applications (either DA or CDC) are determined in a relatively short time frame, with an average of 56 days, and for many applications the turnaround is quicker than this,” said Mr Sherley.
“Twenty percent of applications are approved in 10 days or less, 30% by 20 days and 55% by 40 days.
“The Department’s League Table relies only on DA determination, excluding complying developments and Council’s average for development application assessment is 66 days, while the state average is 114 days.”
The table also tracks DA lodgement days, from when a DA is submitted by the applicant on the NSW Planning Portal and when it is accepted by Council for assessment. The state average is 17 days, while Council’s average is nine days.
“Council is performing well above average in terms of these DA tracking timeframes and staff are to be commended on this. The State Government has now issued an expectation for each Council to meet in terms of these timeframes. For Bathurst, we are now expected to meet the average turnaround times from last year, a much higher standard than many other Councils across the state who have much higher approval times.”
“It is important that members of the public who may be considering a development proposal to talk to Council staff before an application is submitted to make sure all the necessary requirements have been met to ensure a timely turnaround for the application,” Mr Sherley said.
The Department of Planning Council League table can be accessed at https://www.planning.nsw.gov.au/policy-and-legislation/housing/faster-assessments-program/council-league-table.
