Planning Minister Paul Scully says council ‘typos’ delaying hew housing construction

With the state in the grip of severe housing shortages, the Minns government has intervened to stop development applications being delayed by ‘typos’ and ‘spellos’.

Council staff spelling mistakes and “typos” have been found to be holding up housing development applications, prompting Planning Minister Paul Scully to read the riot act.

When council approves a DA, staff attach conditions of consent such as land clearing or environmental requirements on the application, which are handed to the applicant.

However, The Saturday Telegraph has been told when errors are discovered in the consent report – even as minor as “a few typos” – the documents are sent back to be fixed, taking weeks or even months

It can be revealed almost 1000 of more than 5250 lodged DAs in the past year had minor errors and inconsistencies in the conditions of consent.

As the Minns government scrambles to have more homes built, Mr Scully last week imposed a seven-day deadline for councils to review applications and fix mistakes.

Council staff spelling mistakes and “typos” have been found to be holding up housing development applications. Picture: CSNSW

The deadline will apply to DAs involving developments with 30 or more dwellings.

A planning circular issued to councils explained the review requirement would eliminate the need for a separate “modification application”, which was contributing to the delays.

Applicants would also receive the draft conditions of consent for their review during the assessment process and have seven days to provide any feedback. The process is already undertaken for DAs assessed by the Planning Department.

New South Wales Planning Minister Paul Scully. Picture: Christian Gilles/NewsWire

Mr Scully said minor errors such as typos should not be getting in the way of housing construction.

“These are simple errors leading to unnecessary delays,” he said. “Today’s planning circular has been issued so that typos don’t get in the way of building new homes.”

The change comes as the ­latest NSW government council name-and-shame “league ­tables” reveal several councils are averaging well over 100 days to complete a DA assessment, with two over 200 days. The ­February snapshot ­reveals Wingecarribee averaged 238 assessment days and Georges River Council averaged 223.

The government wants councils to determine DAs lodged between July 1 last year to June 30 within 115 days.

Sydney councils that have been taking longer include Woollahra, Penrith, The Hills, Bayside, Canada Bay, Ryde, Sutherland, Hawkesbury, Strathfield and Ku-ring-gai. In the ­regions, Goulburn Mulwaree, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Yass Valley, Bourke, Gunnedah, Cootamundra-Gundagai, Dungog, Tamworth, Bega Valley, Central Coast, Tweed and Ballina councils all averaged more than 115 assessment days.

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