Shellharbour City Council is celebrating a major milestone in its commitment to efficient and responsive development application (DA) processing, which earned state recognition at the recent Local Government NSW (LGNSW) Awards.
During the 2024-2025 reporting period, Council’s DA Assessment Team processed applications in an average of just 73 days – marking a significant improvement from previous years and well below the NSW Government benchmark of 111 days.
Mayor, Chris Homer praised the team’s efforts, highlighting the real impact it has on the community.
“This is a fantastic result for our city. It shows what can be achieved when a team is focused, passionate and committed to making things better for our community. Faster approvals mean less waiting, more certainty, and homes and businesses getting off the ground,” Mayor Homer said.
The result builds on earlier progress reported in March, when the team had already reduced average processing times to 80 days.
The Council’s strong performance last financial year has carried over into the current financial year. In July, Council assessed 58 applications worth more than $56 million and in an average of just 52 days.
The organisation says key factors in the faster turnaround have included:
- A new Accelerated Assessment Team to handle simpler applications faster;
- A ‘clearing house’ system to check applications early and avoid delays;
- Increased proactive engagement, including more meetings with developers to build trust and collaborate.
Council was recently recognised at a state level as a finalist for the LGNSW Planning Award as part of Local Government Week 2025. These awards celebrate councils that do an excellent job in planning and development.
