‘We’re the worst’: Controversial planning reforms back on the table

Premier Chris Minns says he is open to reviving controversial planning reforms abandoned by the previous Coalition government in part because of Labor’s vocal opposition to them, saying NSW was the “worst” state in Australia at spurring new housing development.

NSW Premier Chris Minns says he is open to “sharing the credit” for housing reform ahead of a rare meeting with Opposition Leader Mark Speakman this week.Credit: Getty Images

Ahead of a rare meeting between Minns and Opposition Leader Mark Speakman this week, the premier said he would listen to “whatever is on the table” to turn around the state’s slow housing development pipeline.

“I’ve got no problem sharing the credit for planning reform,” he said.

Despite enacting a series of planning reforms since coming to government, Labor has been unable to arrest the slide in new housing approvals. The premier said he would welcome bipartisan support to legislate some of those reforms, including its Transport-Oriented Development zones around public transport.

“If there’s common ground, let’s pursue it. If we can get planning and housing out of the muck of the daily political debate, and I include myself in that, we engage in the daily political debate, if we can elevate it out of that, it means that you can cement the reforms in regardless of who’s in power,” he said.

Despite criticising many of the government’s attempts at housing reform, the opposition had asked for a meeting with Minns ahead of a proposed roundtable with industry in a bid to overhaul the state’s 45-year-old planning legislation.

The 327-page bill is widely viewed as overly cumbersome and in need of an overhaul in both the developer and local government sectors. It has not been subject to major reforms for decades in part because of the difficulty in reaching a consensus over change.

But Minns said he was open to discussing “whatever is on the table”, including the Coalition’s stated desire to resurrect failed reforms it put forward more than a decade ago while in government. He said NSW would also look to borrow from the other states, saying his was the “worst” state at spurring housing approvals.

In 2013, planning minister Brad Hazzard was frustrated in his attempt to pass planning reforms that aimed to streamline development by forcing councils to approve projects in some high-growth areas within 25 days if they met requirements such as heights and environmental standards.

The proposed legislation was controversial in part because it would have limited the community’s right to object to projects in some cases. It was eventually abandoned after it faced opposition from Labor and some crossbench MPs.

While Minns did not refer to specific elements of that legislation, he said he was open to discussing it.

“There’s probably some pretty agreed facts on the stumbling blocks. There’d be eight to 10 issues that you could speak to builders, planners, lawyers, who say ‘these are our big problems’. My sense is that we won’t have a big trouble tracking down where the blockages are,” he said.

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