Council chosen for electronic DA system

LISMORE City Council has been selected for a project that will deliver an electronic development application system.

LISMORE City Council has been selected for a project that will deliver an electronic development application system.

The Electronic Housing Code (EHC) project is focused on the development of an online system for the electronic lodgement of complying DAs under the NSW Housing Code for lots of 200m2 or above.

This system will also allow the user to determine if they are able to proceed with their development without the need for approval.

The Electronic Housing Code has been built primarily for local industry professionals, such as project home builders, planners, developers and architects.

The project was launched in October 2011 and there are now 35 councils taking part.

Development and compliance manager, Peter Jeuken, said the project was a step in the right direction toward the council's processes becoming fully electronic in the future.

Lismore City Council will receive up to $30,000 from the Department of Planning & Infrastructure to implement the system.

"We know that a significant element of planning reforms currently being developed by the NSW Government is the move towards great utilisation of electronic processing of planning and development applications," Mr Jeuken said.

"The EHC project is the starting point for Council to ensure it has the proper foundations to support this future direction and be at the forefront of responding to the planning reforms.

"Electronic processing has the potential to cover the whole planning approval lifecycle from investigation through lodgement, referral, request-for-information to determination, and covers the full range of planning and development activities of subdivision, change-of-use, regulated use and building.

"The adoption of electronic processes will enable Council to streamline planning approval processes. The system provides greater opportunities to improve efficiency and speed up planning approval processes as well as enable electronic data exchange between councils, developers, builders, third parties and referral organisations.

"This technology will provide greater certainty and efficiency in the development and construction sector by reducing regulatory burden and delays, and it will also potentially reduce builders' costs, which they can pass on to home buyers."