- DA's must now be submitted online
- Assessment times claimed to be reduced by up to 30 days
- Online applications now trackable in real-time
The state of New South Wales has now made online development applications mandatory. Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Rob Stokes said all development applications and complying development certificates across the state must go through the government portal.
“Since the Premier’s mandate was announced in late 2019, we’ve provided councils with tools, advice and funding to get them all onto the planning portal by 1 July this year,” Mr Stokes said.
The announcement follows the late June announcement that the government would be accelerating its roll-out of digital infrastructure and services.
Significant investment has been made in the digital transformation sector, with the government increasing its commitment to the Digital Restart Fund budget to $2.1 billion.
ePlanning is a tried and trusted system now, the Minister said: “More than 80,500 DAs have been submitted via the portal to date from January 2019, representing $91.28 billion in investment.”
Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service Victor Dominello added that “the ePlanning portal saves time for applicants, it saves time for councils and it reduces duplication and administrative costs,”
The government claims it can reduce assessment times by up to 30 days, and moves away from the “cumbersome and opaque paper-based process” previously employed.
“This real-time tracking means more transparency and accountability when it comes to planning decisions. The community can read all of the documents associated with a proposal, know what stage it’s up to and receive updates as it progresses,” said Minister Dominello.
