Central Coast development: ePlanning introduced for lodging DAs online
Whether your lodging a DA for a carport, new house or a multimillion-dollar tower, the process just got a whole lot easier with 15 less steps involved.
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The process of lodging a development application with Central Coast Council just got a lot easier – not to mention more environmentally friendly.
The State Government’s ePlanning initiative has been officially introduced from Wednesday, allowing people to lodge development applications with council anywhere and anytime.
Gone are the days of filling out piles of paperwork and driving into Gosford or Wyong council offices to lodge a DA.
NSW Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello said ePlanning was a game changer for ratepayers by eliminating paperwork and boosting transparency.
“ePlanning allows you to lodge a DA in the comfort of your own home,” he said. “It makes your life easier.”
Mr Dominello praised Central Coast Council for being one of the first council’s to jump on the initiative.
“Prior to today, council had already started to trial it out,” he said. “It is now available with every major council in NSW.”
Central Coast Council’s chief executive officer Gary Murphy said the new initiative was a lot quicker compared to lodging a DA manually.
“We have eliminated 15 steps out of the process,” he said.
Mr Murphy said it also made the overall approval process quicker with many DAs often held up by agency referrals.
“These referrals still happen but in a much more streamlined fashion,” he said.
Central Coast Parliamentary Secretary Adam Crouch said the initiative covered everything from a carport to a multimillion-dollar tower DA.
“With significant future population growth in our community, it’s important that we all work to make the planning process as hassle-free, transparent and simple as possible,” he said.
“The experience from some councils that have already adopted the online system shows that DA processing times are being slashed by more than half.”
People unable to lodge applications online will be able to seek assistance from the council.
Mr Dominello said the impacts of COVID-19 had seen many people, including the elderly, embrace the online world.
“It’s amazing ho many people are now online,” he said.
“There will be some people in the community that will struggle but they will always have the option of going up to the council.”