‘Some urgency about this’: Libs back call to reform outdated planning act

The NSW Opposition is willing to come together with the Minns government next month and update the outdated Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.

The NSW Opposition has indicated it could vote with the government on legislation to overhaul the state’s broken planning laws which slow down housing approvals.

The Daily Telegraph revealed yesterday that some of the state’s biggest developers have called on the Minns government to significantly update the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EP&A), a move that would require bipartisan support.

Opposition Leader Mark Speakman has joined the chorus of calls for change and offered to sit down with Premier Chris Minns at a roundtable meeting to work on a bipartisan alternative to the current Act.

Premier Chris Minns. The NSW Opposition has indicated it could vote with the government if it pursued legislation to overhaul the state’s broken planning laws. Picture: NewsWire/ Gaye Gerard

Previous governments have attempted and failed to modernise the unruly 45-year-old legislation, which has been bogged down by years of amendments. Attempts to overhaul the legislation by the O’Farrell Liberal government in 2013 were torpedoed by the Labor opposition and crossbench, with no serious attempt at significant reform ever since.

“I think there is some urgency about this – this Act has been in place for 45 years so we’re not going to solve the problem overnight but we could start with the roundtable next month,” Mr Speakman said.

“If this government is serious about approaching this in a bipartisan way, the Coalition is willing to sit around the table and work with the government on reform of the planning system to address the housing crisis.”

But the government was sceptical of Mr Speakman’s offer of bipartisan support after the Opposition introduced a bill in June to abolish Transport Oriented Development (TOD) zones – a key plank in Labor’s housing policy.

Planning Minister Paul Scully said the government was happy to talk with the Opposition and was “willing to consider ideas to improve and streamline the planning system” but was not hopeful that bipartisan reform could be achieved.

“Both the Premier and myself have made offers to the Opposition previously, and all they have done is oppose more homes being delivered for people who need them,” he said.

“If the Opposition is serious, we are happy to talk, but we would note that previous commitments of bipartisan support by the Opposition on the Government’s TOD program evaporated.”

NSW Opposition leader Mark Speakman said the opposition wished to work with the government on passing major reforms of the planning act. Picture: Jeremy Piper

Mr Speakman said he hoped the Minns government would agree to a roundtable to discuss how the EP&A could be updated to speed up housing supply.

He said making the EP&A fit for purpose would play a significant role in speeding up housing approvals. He said while consultations to refine a new version of the act could take time, discussions should commence in the next month and include developers, councils and community groups.

Mr Speakman said any change to the act could look at introducing community consultation for housing projects much earlier, while reducing unnecessary assessment hurdles later in the process.

“It would be about getting rid of the red tape and making it a more efficient and streamlined process,” he said.

Industry stakeholders said bipartisan support for reform was the only way significant change could be achieved to create more homes.

Urban Development Institute of Australia chief executive - and former Liberal government minister - Stuart Ayres said the planning act had become “a patchwork quilt” of amendments that “conspire to stop homes rather than create them.”

Originally published as ‘Some urgency about this’: Libs back call to reform outdated planning act