SA Planning and Design code and new online portal accelerating planning approval times, State Government data shows
SA’s country councils are approving housing plans at a faster rate, under the nation’s first online planning system.
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More than 3000 planning applications valued in excess of $620m have been lodged using the state’s new online planning system, which the State Government says has slashed approval times.
For the first time planning bureaucrats are now able to track in real time when applications are being lodged and compare the performance of council planning departments.
Thirty-three regional councils have been using the state’s new planning and design code and online planning portal since July last year.
Data generated through the new online lodgement portal, and supplied by the State Planning Commission to The Advertiser, reveals that 3039 applications were submitted to March 1 this year valued, at $626m.
Of those, 1646 applications were granted or approved, with straightforward applications – such as conventional house plans – taking councils on average 3.6 days to approve compared with eight days under the previous planning system.
More complex “performance assessed” projects – which may need to be referred to other agencies for comment or deviate markedly from planning policies – are being approved in 14.72 days, three days faster than before.
Similar applications needing public notification are being turned around in 40.75 days, down from 47.56 days under the previous regimen.
Most applications are lodged midweek, with 11am the most popular time.
Nearly one in seven applications is lodged outside conventional 9-5 working hours.
The planning shake-up – which includes a single planning rule book covering the state, and Australia’s first fully online ePlanning system – has been designed to streamline approvals.
A planning department spokesperson said the early trend shows the new system was providing “increased accessibility and flexibility”.
“The ePlanning system is delivering rich data and information on what types of planning applications and assessment pathways are being undertaken in SA’s rural areas,” the spokesperson said.
“This initial eight months of data clearly demonstrates that customers in SA’s rural areas are embracing the digital code.”
Regional councils had expressed concerns to a parliamentary inquiry in October about the new online portal. This week, Loxton Waikerie and Streaky Bay councils said the system had improved.
Loxton Waikerie’s environmental services manager Cheryle Pedler told The Advertiser that “enhancements” to the portal had “improved the user experience”.
Streaky Bay Council chief executive Karina Ewer, who wrote a scathing appraisal of the new system in a September letter to the Environment Resources and Development Committee inquiry, said the system had improved.
“The system has … decreased the time it takes to manage development approvals and the administrative burden on council staff has eased considerably,” she told The Advertiser.
“This is a great outcome and many of the initial issues have been addressed. Issues with the cadastre however remain and some of the code is not applied correctly.”
The new planning system will become live across the rest of the state on March 19.
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