The Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage is seeking community, industry and stakeholder feedback on the next phase of reforms to the planning system.
The Department said a series of legislative, regulatory and policy reforms had already been implemented.
These included a consistent community consultation requirement for Local Planning Strategies, scheme amendments and Structure Plans, along with a radius model and new onsite signage requirements for complex Development Applications.
“The reforms also saw the creation of a new approvals pathway for significant developments, and changes to the Development Assessment Panel (DAP) system, including improved governance and transparency requirements,” the Department said.
“To date, the reforms have seen the number of DAPs reduce from nine to five, and from next year the number of DAPs will reduce from five to three.”
There would also be appointments of permanent DAP members for consistency of decision-making.
“A Special Matters Development Panel will also be created to continue to consider State-significant developments,” the Department said.
“We are now seeking the views of all Western Australians on measures to further reform the planning system,” it said.
Minister for Planning, Rita Saffioti said the consultation would be led by the Department in conjunction with the Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries, and would be open until late October.
“Some of the major reforms we are looking to implement in this tranche include establishing a State referral co-ordination process to allow the coordination of State Agency, utilities and Departmental referrals for significant development applications,” Ms Saffioti said.
“Other ideas include investigating an expansion of Government-led structure planning for areas of key strategic importance, and further reform of developer contribution plans.”
Consultation on the proposed planning reforms can be arranged on the Department’s website at this PS News link.
