Sydney DA assessment times: fastest and slowest councils

Four Sydney councils average more than 500 days to assess individual major development applications. Find out where your council was ranked.

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The five fastest — and slowest — councils to determine development applications across Greater Sydney have been revealed, with staggering wait times as proposals flood major growth areas in the city’s west.

The latest NSW Planning data, released for the end of the 2018/19 financial year, identifies Penrith City Council as holding the title of the shortest average waiting times for developers with an average of 150 days to determine an application.

Penrith City Council has the fastest assessment times for JRPP development applications at 150 days. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Meanwhile, The Hills Shire Council in Sydney’s northwest is the slowest, taking an average of almost 600 days to decide on proposals submitted to them.

The data assessed development applications with a construction investment value of greater than $30 million.

A Hills Shire Council spokeswoman said wait times vary based on the complexity of the development and the increase of proposals occurring in new land release areas including Box Hill North and North Kellyville as well as Metro station precincts.

“Council is now predominantly assessing DAs for large lot subdivisions and apartment buildings, residential and commercial, which take time to assess in comparison to carports, awnings and houses which were the most common type of DA lodged to Council in the past,” the spokeswoman said.

Aerial photos of the North West Metro Rail Link being built at Kellyville where massive numbers of proposals are being submitted. Picture: Jonathan Ng

“DAs for large lot subdivisions and unit blocks are complex, and council needs to negotiate between various agencies before it’s in a position where the Regional Planning Panel can be given a recommendation for a decision.”

The Hills Shire Council assessed applications with a total construction value in the last financial year of $2.89 billion.

Artist impressions of the Box Hill City Centre residential and retail precinct by Toplace in Sydney's north west — assessed by The Hills Shire Council.

Rounding out the top five fastest approving councils is Campbelltown (160 days), Randwick (180), Parramatta (190) and Northern Beaches (190), while the slowest approving local government areas also include Liverpool (490), Canterbury-Bankstown (510), Waverley (530) and Blacktown (550).

A Blacktown Council spokesman said officers have processed more than $4.2 billion worth of applications in the last year.

A breakdown of the number of days taken for Sydney Councils to determine major development applications.

“The amount of development occurring in the City of Blacktown is at an

enormous level,” the spokesman said.

“Currently Blacktown City has a population of more than 390,000 — the population is

estimated to be more than 520,000 by 2036.”

Development applications for dwellings determined by Blacktown Council currently average 18 days for assessment for the 2019/20 financial year.

Independent panellists introduced in 2017 to determine applications across all Sydney councils on Joint Regional Planning Panels decided the fate of a total of 64 development applications in the last quarter of 2018/19 in comparison to 84 determinations in the same time in the previous year.

The Sydney Eastern City Planning Panel was the fastest when approving or rejecting development applications in the final quarter of the 2018/19 financial year — averaging 11 days, while Sydney Central City averaged the longest determination time of 15 days.

Sydney Western City averaged 12 days, Sydney North took 13 days and Sydney South took 12 days.

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