Overview
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.
Executive summary
A development application is a formal application for development that requires consent under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. It is usually lodged with the local council for processing and determination, and consists of standard application forms, supporting technical reports and plans.
In March 2017, the NSW Department of Planning and Environment (DPE)1 released the ‘Development Assessment Best Practice Guide' designed to help councils assess development applications in a timely manner and provide a better experience for applicants.
DPE's guide describes the development assessment process in five stages.
This audit assessed the extent to which Camden and Randwick City Councils’ ‘pre lodgement’ and ‘lodgement’ stages align with DPE's guide, as well as the Independent Commission Against Corruption's ‘Development Assessment Internal Audit Tool 2010.’ The DPE Guide and the ICAC tool will hereafter be referred to jointly as ‘the Guidance’.
According to DPE, receiving assessment ready development applications will create a more efficient assessment process, which will lead to improved service for all customers.
DPE says that effective communication and fact finding in the pre lodgement stage will improve the quality of applications. Pre lodgement should:
- enable applicants to determine whether or not their development proposal could be dealt with as a complying development as opposed to lodging a full development application (DA)
- ensure applicants are aware of all administrative and information requirements prior to lodging a DA
- educate applicants on their roles and the roles and responsibilities of council staff and decision makers in the assessment and determination process.
DPE also says that efficient lodgement processing aids assessment. The lodgement stage should ensure that:
- all DAs meet the relevant requirements for lodgement
- additional information required by council for lodgement is reasonable and consistently applied
- notification and referral of all DAs to appropriate council staff and state agencies is undertaken in a timely manner.
The three remaining assessment stages 'assessment', 'determination' and 'post determination' were not included in the scope of this audit, but may be the subject of future audits.
The Councils
Camden Council is experiencing high levels of growth, with many parts of the local government area under a new Greenfield Housing Code (the Code) which came into effect from 6 July 2018. DPE expects the Code to ‘speed up the delivery of new homes and in greenfield areas (new release areas) across New South Wales to meet the needs of the State's growing population and improve housing affordability’. DPE has identified Camden as one of the top five local government areas for Sydney Housing Supply with 8,850 additional homes built in the last five years and 12,350 additional homes expected to be built over the next five years.
Randwick City Council is a well established local government area with more modest growth projections. In 2017, DPE forecast 2,150 additional homes would be built in the Randwick local government area in the following five years to 2020–21.
Conclusion - Camden Council
Camden Council's pre-lodgement and lodgement processes and procedures partially align to the Guidance. Implementation of additional recommended processes and procedures may improve transparency, application workflow and tracking, and monitoring of performance. Currently, the Council cannot demonstrate that its lodgement stage is timely or that its pre-lodgement practices are effective.
Camden Council has in place several pre-lodgement and lodgement processes recommended by the Guidance. For example, it:
- has key processes in place required for legislative and regulatory compliance
- has a duty planner providing on the spot advice to potential applicants and applicants
- checks applications for completeness at the point of lodgement
- holds pre-lodgement meetings
- offers relevant information for applicants on its website
- provides sufficient assurance that it calculates and applies fees in line with regulations.
That said, it does not have in place a large number of recommended processes and some existing processes need improvement. In particular, Camden Council does not:
- have formal planning policies adopted by the elected council members which would assist applicants to better understand the Council's expectations and improve transparency
- have a clearing house to efficiently sort, prioritise and distribute applications to appropriate internal staff or external agencies, although it has adopted an alternative approach that fast tracks straightforward applications
- have evidence explaining why meetings did not proceed for around 60 per cent of applicant requests in the period we examined
- make sufficient use of pre-lodgement meetings, with opportunities to better promote these meetings and to more quickly respond to meeting requests
- have good information on how well its pre-lodgement practices are delivering assessment ready applications or whether its lodgement stage is timely
- extensively monitor overall development assessment timeliness, and has limited information on applicant satisfaction.
Camden Council's property information system has limitations in its functionality and is not integrated with other key systems. Camden Council started accepting online lodgements in December 2018, as one of 12 councils piloting online lodgement via the NSW Planning Portal. At the time of this audit the functionality provided in the portal by DPE did not include integration with Camden Council's property information or finance systems.
Camden Council does not routinely monitor costs against revenue collected from applicants. Camden Council's costs of development assessment exceeded revenue by between $1.9 million and $2.5 million each year over the last five years. The fees councils can charge applicants are established under regulation and have not changed fundamentally since the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 commenced.
We also identified a small number of anomalies in the Council's data and systems, although we used corrected data in this report.
Conclusion - Randwick City Council
Randwick City Council's pre-lodgement and lodgement practices closely align to the Guidance. It completes the lodgement stage in a timely manner, although it cannot demonstrate the effectiveness of its pre-lodgement practices.
Randwick City Council has in place a high proportion of the pre-lodgement and lodgement processes recommended by the Guidance. For example, it:
- has key processes in place required for legislative and regulatory compliance
- has a duty planner providing on the spot advice to potential applicants and applicants
- checks applications for completeness at the point of lodgement
- holds all pre-lodgement meetings requested by applicants
- offers a significant amount of relevant information for applicants on its website
- has a clearing house to efficiently sort, prioritise and distribute applications to appropriate internal staff or external agencies
- provides sufficient assurance that it calculates and applies fees in line with regulations
- monitors development assessment timeliness against targets
- has a functional electronic lodgement system in place, which commenced operation in 2014.
Randwick City Council extensively measures overall development assessment timeliness and its property information system provides a high level of integration and functionality. It met the Guidance target for timeliness in the lodgement phase on 95 per cent of occasions during the period we examined.
That said, a small number of recommended practices are not in place and the Council could improve implementation of others. Specifically, it:
- does not have formal planning policies adopted by the elected council members which would assist applicants to better understand the Council's expectations and improve transparency
- does not make sufficient use of pre-lodgement meetings, with opportunities to better promote these meetings and to more quickly respond to meeting requests
- has limited information on applicant satisfaction particularly with the pre-lodgement and lodgement stages
- does not have good information on how well its pre-lodgement practices are delivering assessment ready applications.
Randwick City Council does not routinely monitor costs against revenue collected from applicants. The Council's costs of development assessment exceeded revenue by between $4.3 million and $6.2 million each year over the last five years. The fees councils can charge applicants are established under regulation and have not changed fundamentally since the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 commenced.
The audit also identified a small number of anomalies in the Council's data and systems, although we used corrected data in this report.
Development assessment data published by DPE is dated, hampering benchmarking
At the time of this audit, the latest data on overall development assessment activity and timeliness published by DPE was for 2015–16. Councils have provided 2016–17 and 2017–18 data to DPE but this had not been published. This impacts on the ability of councils to effectively benchmark their current performance against other councils.
The NSW Planning Portal rollout commenced recently, but this has happened later and with less functionality than was originally communicated to councils
In 2016, DPE told councils that by the end of June 2017 applicants in any local government area in New South Wales would be able to lodge development applications electronically through the NSW Planning Portal. DPE also stated the portal would make it easy for councils to receive development applications submitted online without having to make costly investments in third party software systems. Camden Council decided to wait for DPE to implement this system rather than seek to put its own system in place. In December 2018, DPE released a ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) for online lodgement through the ePlanning portal to Camden Council and 11 other councils. At the time of this audit the MVP had less functionality and integration with property systems than was described in 2016.
1. Recommendations
Camden Council and Randwick City Council should work towards full and effective implementation of DPE and ICAC Guidance for development assessment pre-lodgement and lodgement.
- Both Councils should:
- publish a development assessment policy or policies to assist applicants to better understand the Council's expectations and improve transparency
- hold pre lodgement meetings for as many complex proposals as possible, to increase the likelihood that development applications are 'assessment ready' when received, and:
- make it easier for applicants to book meetings
- do more to promote the benefits of meetings for applicants with complex projects
- hold meetings sooner after requested by applicants and more quickly communicate outcomes to applicants.
- improve monitoring of the pre lodgement and lodgement stages, including analysing the effect of pre lodgement meetings on assessment readiness of applications, once enough have occurred to allow a valid analysis
- improve their development assessment data quality assurance practices.
- publish a development assessment policy or policies to assist applicants to better understand the Council's expectations and improve transparency
- Camden Council should:
- evaluate the costs and benefits of a clearing house process for development applications that fall outside the fast track processing stream
- improve its systems and approaches for development application retention, tracking, and monitoring
- work with the Department of Planning and Environment to increase the functionality of its online lodgement system and integrate it with other systems.
- evaluate the costs and benefits of a clearing house process for development applications that fall outside the fast track processing stream
The responses of the Councils to the audit report are at Appendix one.
1. Introduction
1.1 Development assessment
Developments require approval from a council, Regional Panel, Sydney Planning Panel, Local Planning Panel or the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces. There are nine different planning approval pathways in New South Wales. The size and scale of the development determines which of the assessment pathways is appropriate. Of these pathways, local development is the most common type of development in New South Wales, with projects ranging from home extensions to medium sized commercial, retail and industrial developments.
A development is considered local development if:
- a local environmental plan or State environmental planning policy states that development consent is required before the development can take place
- it is not a Regionally or State Significant Development.
Local councils are the consent authority for local development unless a State environmental planning policy specifies the Minister as the consent authority.
A development application is a formal application for development that requires consent under the NSW Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. It is usually lodged with the local council for processing and determination and consists of standard application forms, supporting technical reports and plans.
1.2 Guides to efficient and effective development assessment
This audit identified two key publications which provide guidance to councils on assessing development applications efficiently and effectively.
In March 2017, in recognition of the role the development assessment process plays in delivering new housing and the Premier’s priority for faster housing approvals, DPE released the ‘Development Assessment Best Practice Guide'. In April 2010, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) released a ‘Development Assessment Internal Audit Tool'.
1.3 About the audit
This audit assessed the extent to which Camden and Randwick City Councils’ pre-lodgement and lodgement processes align with the guidance in ‘Development Assessment Best Practice Guide' and ‘Development Assessment Internal Audit Tool' (hereafter referred to as the Guidance). The Guidance is designed to help councils to:
- provide pre-lodgement advice to help applicants understand what they can do to facilitate expeditious processing of their development application
- accept, notify and refer development applications to support timely assessment and determination
- calculate, verify, invoice and collect development application fees effectively and on a timely basis.
We did not examine the 'assessment', 'determination' or 'post determination' stages in this audit, but may do so in future audits.
Further information on the audit scope and criteria is at Appendix three.
1.4 The auditee councils
Randwick City Council is a Sydney Metropolitan Council and Camden Council is a Sydney Metropolitan Fringe Council.
Camden Council is experiencing high levels of growth, with many parts of the local government area under a new Greenfield Housing Code (the Code) which came into effect from 6 July 2018. DPE expects the Code ‘to speed up the delivery of new homes and in greenfield areas (new release areas) across New South Wales to meet the needs of the State's growing population and improve housing affordability’. DPE has identified Camden as one of the top five local government areas for Sydney Housing Supply with 8,850 additional homes built in the last five years and 12,350 additional homes to be built over the next five years. The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) estimated that in 2018 the population in the Camden local government area was just over 94,000 and DPE forecasts the population will grow to 225,000 by 2036.
Randwick City Council is a well-established local government area with more modest growth projections. In 2017, DPE published housing supply forecasts indicating 2,150 additional homes were expected in Randwick City Council local government area by 2021–22. The ABS estimated that in 2018 the population in the Randwick City local government area was just over 154,000 and DPE forecasts the population will grow to 180,000 by 2036.
These different profiles are also reflected in the number of development applications approved over time.
While Exhibit 5 shows the number of development applications approved by Camden Council and Randwick City Council have followed a similar pattern over time, Exhibit 6 below shows the value of these developments has risen sharply in Camden Council whereas it has not in Randwick City Council. Analysis of the trends in development types over this period indicates this is attributable to increases in more complex developments such as infrastructure and subdivisions. The number of development assessment applications approved per annum valued $5.0 million and over in Camden Council increased from 7 to 29 between 2007–08 and 2015–16 whereas in Randwick City Council it decreased from 13 to 6 over the same period.
1.5 Overall assessment timeliness
Timeliness of development assessment is important to applicants. Delivering a timely assessment requires council to have effective processes and procedures that are implemented as designed. Poor timeliness can result in the assessment and determination being removed from council's control. Clause 113 of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000 (the Regulation) allows an applicant to deem their application 'refused' if it is not determined by a council within:
- 40 days if a straightforward application
- 60 days if a designated development, integrated development, concurrence authority is required or biodiversity development.
The applicant can then ask the Land and Environment Court to determine the application.
Clause 113 of the Regulation sets timeframes for councils to assess development applications. However, clauses 54 and 115 of the Regulation qualify these timeframes. Clause 54 allows councils to request additional information from the applicant in order to make 'proper consideration of the development application'. Clause 115 allows councils to exclude the time taken to obtain this additional information from the assessment period. This time-exclusion is informally known as 'stop the clock'.
DPE's website publishes annual data provided by councils that measures operational performance against key indicators including volume of applications, capital investment value, types of development, legal appeals and time taken by councils to process development applications.
In order to provide context for our analysis of the pre-lodgement and lodgement stages presented later in this report, we compared performance reported by the audited councils over time and against the state-wide average for a number of key performance indicators we selected from those published by DPE.
At the time of this audit, the latest data on overall development assessment activity and timeliness published by DPE is for 2015–16, despite councils submitting 2016–17 and 2017–18 data to DPE.
This impacts on the ability of councils to effectively benchmark their current performance against other councils.
The most recent comparative data available (2015–16) is included in Exhibit 7 below along with 2017–18 data provided by the two Councils. This data is unaudited. We performed limited review procedures on the Randwick City and Camden Councils' data and identified some anomalies. These have been amended in Exhibit 7, but both Councils need stronger assurance processes to ensure ongoing accuracy.
2015-16 | 2017-18 | ||||
Indicator | State average* | Camden Council* | Randwick City Council* | Camden Council** | Randwick City Council*** |
90% of housing approvals determined within 40 days | 75% | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
Mean gross assessment time | 75 days | 67 days | 76 days | 78 days | 105 days |
Median gross assessment time | 49 days | 49 days | 56 days | 55 days | 88 days |
Median net assessment time | 35 days | 37 days | 32 days | 32 days | 32 days |
Mean net assessment time (i.e. average gross days minus 'stop the clock' days2) | 52 days | 42 days | 35 days | 51 days | 39 days## |
Percentage of DAs returned to applicant for further information (stop the clock) | 34.2% | 31.3% | 42.2% | 27% | 51% |
Mean time clock is stopped | 56 days | 58 days | 88 days | 27 days | 59 days |
Mean development determinations per EFT staff | 59.3 | 89.5 | 78.9 | 68# | 56 |
Percentage of DAs determined within 40 days (excluding stop the clock) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 52% | 55% |
Percentage of DAs determined within 60 days (excluding stop the clock) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 71% | 80% |
# Camden Council's Local Development Performance Monitoring return 2017–18 included 115 as the result for 'mean determinations per EFT staff, but the correct figure was 68. The error was in the number of FTE staff reported.
## Randwick City Council's return 2017–18 included 47 days as the result for 'mean net assessment time', but the correct figure was 39 days. The error resulted from the Council's failure to amend/exclude data that related to section 8.2 review applications, section 4.55 applications, surrendered applications, the last ten per cent of the applications.
n/a Not available.
Source:
* DPE, Local Development Performance Monitoring data (not audited) https://www.planningportal.nsw.gov.au/opendata/q=ldpm&sort=score+desc%2C+metadata_modified+desc&organization=dpe-department-of-planning-and-environment.
** Camden Council, LDPM 2017–18 (not audited).
*** Randwick City Council, LDPM 2017–18 (not audited).
As can be seen from Exhibit 7, between 2015–16 and 2017–18:
- both Councils' gross assessment time became longer (worsened)
- the mean time for which the clock is stopped (i.e., while Council seeks further information from the applicant) has fallen for both Councils (improved)
- the percentage of DAs returned to applicant (stopping the clock) improved in Camden but declined in Randwick.
Customer experience may also be affected if the determination of their application takes a long time. At the conclusion of the testing period:
- Camden Council had 53 applications undetermined for between 180 and 365 days and 18 applications undetermined more than 365 days.
- Randwick City Council had 40 applications undetermined for between 180 and 365 days and 14 applications undetermined more than 365 days.
2. Monitoring overall results
According to the Guidance, councils should systematically measure, monitor and review development assessment outcomes and timeframes against performance targets to ensure the process is transparent, accountable and outcome-focused.
2.1 Monitoring of overall timeliness
Randwick City Council's monitoring of overall development assessment timeliness is extensive, but Camden Council's monitoring is narrow
Exhibit 8 below illustrates Camden and Randwick City Councils' monitoring of performance against the indicators in Exhibit 7.
Camden Council | Randwick City Council | |||
Indicator | Monitors | Target | Monitors | Target |
90% of housing approvals determined within 40 days | ![]() |
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Mean gross assessment time | ![]() |
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75 days |
Median gross assessment time | ![]() |
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60 days |
Median net assessment time | ![]() |
40 days | ![]() |
35 days |
Mean net assessment time (i.e. mean gross days minus 'stop the clock' days) | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
40 days |
Percentage of DAs returned to applicant for further information (stop the clock) | ![]() |
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Mean time clock is stopped | ![]() |
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Mean development determinations per EFT staff | ![]() |
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Percentage of DAs determined within 40 days (excluding stop the clock) | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
60% |
Percentage of DAs determined within 60 days (excluding stop the clock) | ![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
80% |
Key: Yes
No
Exhibit 8 shows Camden Council is monitoring four out of the ten key performance indicators. However, Camden Council has not set targets for three of these indicators. Internal management reporting utilises these performance indicators and the Council includes 'Median net assessment time' performance in its annual report.
Exhibit 8 shows Randwick City Council is monitoring seven out of the ten key performance indicators. The Council has set targets for six of these indicators. Randwick City Council also monitors 'Average gross approval time for the first 90 per cent of residential development applications' against a target of 55 days. Randwick's internal management reporting utilises these performance indicators and a subset is included in the Council's quarterly Integrated Planning and Reporting Framework progress report published on the Council's website. Reporting is based on the data generated by the Council's property information system.
2.2 Monitoring of overall applicant satisfaction
Both Councils monitor applicant's satisfaction with the development assessment process, but have limited up-to-date information
While timeliness is important, it needs to be considered in the context of overall customer experience with the process.
Camden Council distributes a 'Development Customer Service Survey' to applicants following completion of the development assessment process. Having said this, the response rate is low (about three per cent) and not sufficient to draw conclusions. Camden Council advised it reviews each response individually.
Randwick Council commissioned a 'Development Application Research' survey in 2015 which showed that applicant experience with the development applications process was positive overall.
3. Pre-lodgement
3.1 Pre-lodgement results
Neither Council assesses whether pre-lodgement practices are effective
The Guidance says that 'receiving assessment ready DAs will create a more efficient assessment process, which will lead to improved service for all customers'.
Neither Council assesses how well their pre-lodgement processes and activities are contributing to the delivery of assessment-ready applications.
In terms of customer satisfaction, 76 per cent of respondents to Randwick City Council's 2015 'Development Application Research' survey said that its pre-lodgement process met their expectations. Two-thirds said they knew about the pre-lodgement meeting service and that this was aimed at more complex developments. Camden has not surveyed applicants specifically on their pre-lodgement experience.
3.2 Overall alignment with Guidance
Randwick City Council has implemented most pre-lodgement processes recommended in the Guidance and Camden Council has implemented several of these processes
Both Councils provide informal and formal pre-lodgement advisory services. Both Councils also have a Duty Planner service available on site for applicants and potential applicants.
Randwick City Council currently rotates planners from its assessment teams to fill this role, but would prefer to have a dedicated Duty Planner. The Council advertised for a full time Duty Planner position but did not find any suitable applicants. The assessment teams also had vacancies during the audit.
Skill shortages in planning have been documented over the last 15 years. In 2004, the Planning Institute of Australia, the national body representing planning and the planning profession, completed the first National Inquiry into Planning Education and Employment noting 'the shortage of planners remains one of the greatest concerns to the planning profession and the integrity of the planning system’. In a 2017 publication, the Planning Institute of Australia acknowledged the challenges in retaining young planners and the planner shortage in Sydney. Universities have recently increased their planning course intakes but there will be a lag until these students enter the workforce. |
https://www.planning.org.au/policy/national-inquiry.
Camden and Randwick City Councils both provide information and resources relevant to the development assessment process on their websites, such as:
- forms, checklists and guides relating to development applications
- determining if a development application is needed
- how to prepare a development application
- online development assessment tracking
- information about pre-lodgement meetings.
Camden Council also hosts Developer and Home Builders Forums annually which aim to provide a platform for information sharing between the Council and its regular customers.
As shown in Appendix two, Randwick City Council has 35 of the 44 processes recommended in the Guidance applicable to it, while Camden Council has 24 out of the 42 processes applicable to it.3
Neither Council has formal planning policies, and Camden Council also does not have a procedures manual to guide applicants
Neither Camden Council nor Randwick City Council have formal planning policies adopted by the elected council members as recommended in the Guidance. Such policies would improve the general control framework, better communicate both Councils’ expectations to potential applicants and provide greater transparency on the process of lodging and assessing a development application.
The Guidance recommends councils develop a procedures manual on the development assessment process which documents the end-to-end process including pre-lodgement and lodgement stages.
Randwick City Council publishes such a document on its website, as well as several other documents that provide information on the development assessment process. This goes some way towards mitigating the absence of a formal policy, by at least providing the community with clear information on what they can expect as part of the process.
Camden Council makes documents available to potential applicants which provide some information on the development application process, but this falls short of a council-specific procedures manual and does not provide sufficient clarity around the Council's expectations and approaches.
3.3 Pre-lodgement meetings
According to DPE, pre-lodgement meetings involving planners and applicants contribute to lodgement of 'assessment ready' development applications and positively influence the standard of development.
DPE recommends pre-lodgement meetings for complex development applications with 'capital investment value greater than $2.0 million, residential flat buildings, multi dwelling housing and complex proposals including those with environmentally constrained sites'. Such projects represent the highest risk category of development applications, where a pre-lodgement meeting has the greatest potential to add value to the development assessment process.
Both Councils hold pre-lodgement meetings
Between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2018:
- Randwick City Council held 32 pre-lodgement meetings, with 14 related to potentially complex applications
- Camden Council held 20 pre-lodgement meetings, with 19 related to complex development applications.4
Neither Council holds enough pre-lodgement meetings for complex projects and this may be impacting the timeliness of complex assessments
Between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2018, Camden Council held 20 pre-lodgement meetings but received 106 requests for a meeting.
Camden Council’s website acknowledges that staff may decide not to offer a meeting if they consider such a meeting would not be worthwhile.
That said, the Council could not provide specific evidence to show that a considered decision was made to not proceed with 66 of these meeting requests. Due to the limitations of Camden Council's property information system, we could not assess whether any of these requests were for complex projects as defined earlier. These limitations included pre-lodgement meeting information not being linked systematically to development applications, and weak record keeping practices. At the time of this audit, records regarding pre-lodgement meetings had not been updated in the Council's property information system. This precluded Camden Council from extracting the information in a timely manner. The Council has since updated its property information system to include these records.
Having said this, 27 complex development applications suitable for a pre-lodgement meeting were lodged by applicants and determined by Camden Council in the same period. Pre-lodgement meetings occurred for three of these applications. The assessment time of the remaining 24 complex applications in this group was relatively high, with nine taking more than 60 days gross assessment time and seven taking more than 180 days gross assessment time.
As at December 2018, Camden Council had been considering 15 applications for 400 days or more. A pre-lodgement meeting was only held for four of these. A further seven may have benefited from a meeting given the issues holding up determination. These included the need for approval from State agencies (e.g. Roads and Maritime Services) or identification of associated issues such as Voluntary Planning Agreements.
Between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2018 Randwick City Council agreed to all 32 requests for a pre-lodgement meeting. In the same period, three complex development applications suitable for a pre-lodgement meeting were lodged by applicants and determined by the Council without pre-lodgement meetings.
As at December 2018, Randwick City Council had ten applications that it had been considering for 400 days or more. None of these applications had a pre-lodgement meeting. Seven were complex projects and may have benefited from a pre-lodgement meeting.
Neither Council does enough to promote pre-lodgement meetings for complex projects
Councils cannot force potential applicants to participate in a meeting, even if they see clear value in one. The Guidance says 'complex' development applications should have a pre-lodgement meeting, but legislation prevents councils making them mandatory. A council must accept an application when submitted even if it wanted a pre-lodgement meeting.
Both Councils offer pre-lodgement meetings, but they are not sufficiently promoting pre-lodgement meetings for the complex applications they receive.
Both Councils encourage potential applicants to seek pre-lodgement meetings for complex projects via their websites, but neither Council's website readily allows a potential applicant to book a meeting.
Neither Council is timely when responding to requests for pre-lodgement meetings
The Guidance does not set out a timeframe from the request to a meeting. However, pre-lodgement meetings need to be timely if they are to encourage applicant participation. Between 1 January 2018 and 30 September 2018, for Camden Council, the average time between an applicant requesting a meeting and the date of the meeting was 34.5 days. The range was between six and 89 days. Similarly, for Randwick City Council, the average time between an applicant requesting a meeting and the date of the meeting was 44 days, and the range was between seven and 110 days. These averages are more than the Councils' targets for determining a development assessment application and may deter applicants from requesting a pre-lodgement meeting.
Neither Council provides timely documentation to applicants following pre-lodgement meetings
The Guidance recommends the formal record of a pre-lodgement meeting is copied to the property file and provided to the applicant within two business days, and that staff provide a non-binding estimate of the likely timeframe for determination of the application. Both Councils’ procedures do not include these recommendations as requirements or targets for Council staff. In the period 1 January 2018 to 30 September 2018, for Camden Council the delay between the meeting and the formal advice letter averaged 14 days and ranged between zero and 39 days and for Randwick City Council averaged 23 days and ranged between one and 85 days. The template advice letter provided to applicants by both Councils following a pre-lodgement meeting is well structured and supports the provision of clear and thorough advice.
Camden Council does not charge a fee for pre-lodgement meetings in order to encourage pre-lodgement meeting requests. Randwick City Council charges a fee, although the Guidance acknowledges this as an acceptable approach.
Neither Council assesses the value or impact of pre-lodgement meetings
Neither Council routinely monitors the use or value of pre-lodgement meetings.
Randwick City Council was able to readily extract information on pre-lodgement meetings held during the period from its property system and link these to development applications but was not monitoring the impact of the meetings on the 'assessment readiness' of subsequent development applications.
Camden Council was also not monitoring the impact of pre-lodgement meetings on the 'assessment readiness' of subsequent development applications. The Council was not able to extract information on pre-lodgement meetings from its systems readily or link these meetings to subsequent development applications systematically.
The Audit Office had to assemble the information on Camden Council's pre-lodgement meetings outlined earlier in this section from data held in various disparate Council systems including the property information system, document management system and the Application Tracker accessible from the Council's website.
4. Lodgement
4.1 Lodgement results
Neither Council routinely monitors or reports on lodgement stage timeframes – and only Randwick has the data to do so
The Guidance recommends that lodgement, notification, referral and allocation take place on days one to six of the formal assessment process.
In the period we examined:
- Randwick City Council met this target for 95 per cent of applications
- Camden Council could not demonstrate its lodgement timeliness.
Neither Council routinely monitors or reports on lodgement stage timeframes. Randwick City Council's property information system logs the completion of these specific events, which allowed us to assess their performance. Camden Council's system does not do this.
In terms of customer satisfaction, 84 per cent of respondents to Randwick City Council's 2015 'Development Application Research' survey said that its lodgement process met their expectations. Camden has not surveyed applicants specifically on their lodgement experience.
4.2 Overall alignment with guidance
'Lodgement' of a development application describes the process of an applicant providing all information and payment of fees to council and council formally registering an application. Following lodgement, referrals are made to internal experts and State agencies when their approval is required. 'Notification' is where neighbours and the community are formally advised of the development application as per the relevant planning instruments. Applications are then allocated to the appropriate assessing officers.
Randwick City Council's lodgement processes are closely aligned to the Guidance
Randwick City Council has in place almost all lodgement processes recommended by the Guidance. This includes an online lodgement system and a lodgement clearing house. Camden Council has in place less than half of the recommended processes, has only recently started to use online lodgement and does not have a clearing house.
At both Councils' development applications are reviewed by the Duty Planner in the first instance to check the quality and content of a development application against requirements. In line with the Guidance, the Planner uses standard checklists for different types of developments. Randwick City Council's property system stores records on the basis of property address, so that the reviewer can readily consider pre-lodgement analysis and correspondence. Camden Council does not store records in this way, and manual searches of its corporate systems are required to retrieve and consider any pre-lodgement analysis and correspondence.
Both Councils' development assessment units include streams that specialise in different types of development applications. Camden Council has three dedicated streams of assessment, the Fast Track and Gateway teams assess straightforward development applications and the third, the Area teams (East and West) assess more complex applications. Similarly, Randwick City Council has two streams of assessment, the Fast Track team assesses straightforward development applications and the Development Assessment team assesses more complex applications.
Both Councils have the key processes in place required for legislative and regulatory compliance.
As can be seen in Appendix two, Randwick City Council has 21 of the 22 processes recommended in the Guidance in place while Camden Council has 10 out of 22.
Camden Council's system shortcomings present a risk of pre-lodgement advice being ignored in the assessment process
The Guidance recommends that formal records of a pre-lodgement meeting and additional relevant documents are copied to the property file. The Guidance also recommends that evidence of pre-lodgement advisory services is provided by the applicant at lodgement to allow the application to be cross-checked with formal records.
Both Councils require applicants to provide a copy of any pre-lodgement advice with subsequent lodgements. Randwick City Council's systems are integrated to ensure pre-lodgement advice is available at the time of lodgement to allow cross checking and consideration in the assessment process.
Camden Council's systems do not associate pre-lodgement meeting advice with subsequent lodgements. Pre-lodgement meeting activity and development applications are stored in separate registers of the Council's property information system and pre-lodgement correspondence is stored in the document management system. This lack of system integration requires manual searches to identify relevant pre-lodgement advice.
Camden Council should improve its systems and approaches to ensure pre-lodgement advice provided to applicants is consistently considered in the assessment process.
4.3 Online lodgement of development applications
Online lodgement allows new development applications to be lodged without physical documents. Missing information can be quickly identified through checklists within the system. Online lodgement also benefits applicants by providing an alternative to attending council's offices for lodging applications.
Camden Council recently started using the ePlanning online lodgement system
Camden Council started using an online lodgement system during the course of this audit. It is one of 12 councils piloting DPE's online lodgement via the NSW Planning Portal, which at this stage has limited functionality.
In December 2018, DPE released a ‘Minimum Viable Product’ (MVP) for online lodgement through the ePlanning portal to Camden Council and 11 other councils. While, at the time of this audit, the MVP had less functionality than described in 2016 - it nevertheless provides dashboards for applicants, councils and the Department and allows:
- applicants to lodge a development application to a council, withdraw an application, provide additional information requested by a council, track their application online and receive automatic email notifications at key stages
- councils to request additional information from the applicant and make a determination.
In 2016, DPE told councils that by the end of June 2017 applicants in any local government area in New South Wales would be able to lodge development applications electronically through the NSW Planning Portal. DPE also stated the portal would make it easy for councils to receive development applications submitted online without having to make costly investments in third party software systems. Camden Council awaited the introduction of the development application lodgement portal rather than seek to put its own system in place.
Randwick City Council has used an integrated online lodgement system since 2014
Randwick City Council has an electronic lodgement system. The Council officially introduced online lodgement for development applications on 1 January 2014. Online lodgement is a module within the Council's property system.
The property software used by Randwick City Council enables digital management of all development assessment processes, providing an integrated approach with property information centralised and accessible. The system also enables a range of reports to be generated and customised on different parameters. In January 2019, Randwick City Council was one of a small group of councils that started using DPE's online concurrence and referral to State authorities.
4.4 Development assessment fees
The fees councils can charge applicants to assess and determine their development applications are set under Reg 246B of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2000.
Both Councils' procedures provide assurance that they calculate and apply fees in line with regulations and the Guidance
Both Councils have procedures which provide assurance that they calculate, verify, invoice and collect development application fees effectively and on a timely basis. Applicants' cost estimates for development are verified in accordance with the relevant DPE circular.
DPE recommends that applicants should obtain the support of a registered quantity surveyor for any development estimates above $3.0 million. The cost estimates are important because they impact on the calculation of the development assessment fee collected by a council. Randwick City Council's procedures provide greater assurance as the support of a registered quantity surveyor is required for development estimates above $500,000. Further, all fee quotes relating to development applications are generated from the property system and are then checked and signed by a senior officer before being issued to the applicant.
Camden Council's processes in this regard have some shortcomings. These include:
- continued use of manual, paper-based methods
- absence of an interface between the council's finance and property systems
- checking of applicants’ cost estimates by customer service staff.
Neither Council recovers the full costs of development assessment
Over the last five years, Camden Council spent between $1.9 million and $2.5 million per year and Randwick City Council spent between $4.3 million and $6.2 million per year more on assessing development applications than they received from development application fees.
The fees councils can charge applicants under Reg 246B of the Regulation, have not changed, except for CPI, since the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 commenced. In 2017, DPE identified that 'a review of the EP&A Regulation 2000’ would present ‘an opportunity to examine whether the existing fee regime remains appropriate'. At this stage, a review of fees and charges has not commenced. A review of the fee regime should include the potential for councils to reduce costs through implementation of efficient practices, as well as considering whether fees should increase due to changes in planning laws, regulations and environmental factors.
The above figures were calculated by audit based on Camden and Randwick City Councils’ financial records. Neither Council routinely monitors costs of development assessment against revenue collected from applicants.
4.5 Clearing house process
According to DPE's Best Practice Guide, a clearing house process enables a council to sort and prioritise applications and initiate notification, exhibition and internal and external referrals. Benefits of a clearing house also include quicker and easier access to expert advice on referrals and efficiency gains generated by bulk referrals and notifications.
Only Randwick City Council uses a clearing house process
Randwick City Council has a clearing house process in place to triage development applications and initiate notification, exhibition and internal and external referrals process. The clearing house function is carried out via a daily meeting of the Development Application Committee and is attended by coordinators of the assessment teams and development engineers. For development applications lodged online the same clearing house process takes place digitally.
Camden Council does not use a clearing house process.
The Council has implemented a different approach which separates straightforward from complex development applications and fast-tracks straightforward development applications that do not require any referrals. This aims to ensure straightforward development applications do not get distributed amongst more complex development applications.
Camden Council advised that it has explored the establishment of a clearing house and concluded that it would have little or no benefit and could have a negative impact. Camden Council could not provide evidence of such consideration or its results. The supporting information it provided was not sufficiently compelling to lead us to conclude that its approach was as good as or better than a clearing house.
Appendices
Appendix one – Response from agencies
Appendix two – Council's alignment with the guidance
Appendix three – About the audit
Appendix four – Performance auditing
Parliamentary Reference: Report number #322 - released 20 June 2019
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