Planning team to kick start much-needed reform

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Planning team to kick start much-needed reform

The Property Council of Australia welcomes the announcement of the establishment of a Planning Team  by the Minister for Planning, Rita Saffioti. 

The Planning Team has been tasked with aligning planning system with Government policy to enable the delivery of key projects such as METRONET.

The team has also been tasked with establishing greater consistency across local governments, something the Property Council has long advocated for.

Other objectives of the Planning Team include:

•Making strategic planning the cornerstone of all planning decisions;

•Opening up the planning system so that it is understandable to all;

•Clarifying local and State planning roles and functions of the WA Planning Commission and Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage;

•Responding to community concerns about accountability and transparency of Development Assessment Panels;

•Formally recognising the need for community participation;

•Creating more certainty for industry and cutting red tape; and

•Refining developer contribution schemes.

“Planning reform is vital in WA to ensure the state can meet its objectives to grow jobs and build strong communities with projects like Metronet,” Property Council WA Executive Director Lino Iacomella said.

“It’s good to see that better alignment of local planning regulations is a reform priority.”

“A major constraint on growth in WA is the huge inconsistency in local and regional planning laws.  What we need is uniform planning systems for major cities and regional centres”

“The industry also recognises that the community wants to be better consulted about major developments and we look forward to discussing how to achieve this with the reform team.”

 “Infrastructure planning is an important part of community consultation.  The property industry would like to see more prioritisation of major infrastructure that is planned to support growth and development, like public transport.”

“This will give the community greater confidence in the planning system,” Mr Iacomella said.

Media contact:  Lino Iacomella  |  M  0417 1 974   |   E  [email protected]