Slow Turnaround Sign Of The Times For Shellharbour Council

Illawarra Mercury

Thursday January 4, 2007

CHALPAT SONTI

Just how well are our councils doing? A State Government report card has ranked NSW local authorities in everything from how much debt they have to the amount of rubbish they pick up. In the first of a two-part series, CHALPAT SONTI looks at how much you pay in rates and how long development applications take. TOMORROW: Just how much the region's councils spend on their residents - and how we make use of their services.

MUST improve, but trying hard.

That could be the unofficial report card for Shellharbour City Council, the slowest in the Illawarra when it comes to handling development applications.

The council took on average 48 days - twice as long as its southern neighbour Kiama - to process applications in 2004-05, according to the State Government's Comparative Information of NSW Local Government Councils report.

Acting general manager Peter O'Rourke said much of the blame for delays was due to a lack of staff.

"Getting planners prepared to stay in local government when the financial rewards elsewhere are so good is a real challenge," he said.

"We're still in a growth area, too and there are a lot of applications that require a lot of notification and we're also obliged by law to get external advice."

The council was backed by its major critic, the Urban Development Institute of Australia. Acting executive director Scott Woodcock said the UDIA had worked with the council to improve its processes.

"For example, in terms of development, rather than having too much going to council, there needed to be things council officers could deal with.

"They've implemented these things and it's helping their turnaround times," he said.

Wollongong City Council chief executive Rod Oxley said he was pleased with his council's DA turnaround time of 39 days, although this was nine days longer than the previous year.

"Anything less than 40 days is a good result, considering we're processing 3000 development applications and construction certificates a year," he said.

But Mr Woodcock said the statistics hid the long delays for bigger developments.

"They tend to show a lower turnaround time because they take into account applications for things like carports and garages, which don't take long at all, but the holding costs are the killer on big projects," he said.

Those behind a typical multi-unit development would still make a good profit if their application was approved within 60 days.

After 150 days the project became "quite marginal" and 90 days later it was unfeasible, he said.

© 2007 Illawarra Mercury

Back to News Index | Back to Home