Media release: Development assessment: pre-lodgement and lodgement in Camden Council and Randwick City Council
In a report released today, the Auditor-General, Margaret Crawford examines how well Camden and Randwick City Councils manage the pre-lodgement and lodgement stages of development assessment.
The report found that both councils could do more to monitor and assess the effectiveness of their pre-lodgement and lodgement stages. The audit highlighted that Randwick City Council closely follows guidance designed to encourage good practice in these initial stages of its development assessments. It also demonstrated it was timely when processing lodgements. Camden Council is partially following the guidance and could not demonstrate that its lodgement stage was timely.
The report recommends that Camden and Randwick City Councils:
· publish development assessment policies to assist applicants better understand expectations and improve transparency
· hold pre-lodgement meetings for as many complex proposals as possible, in order to increase the likelihood that development applications are ‘assessment ready’ when received
· improve monitoring of lodgement and pre-lodgement processes.
Further information
Please contact Barry Underwood, Director of the Office of the Auditor-General by email or on 9275 7101 or 0403 073 664