Local Governments Given Keys to Best Practice Planning System
The Property Council has provided Local Governments with a roadmap to create a best practice planning system and pave the way for more community consensus around issues like urban infill and housing diversity.
“The report shows how Perth can realistically achieve the level of infill and housing diversity that is required through best-practice local planning”, said Property Council WA Executive Director Lino Iacomella.
In a very first, The Property Council’s report, Benchmarking Greater Perth’s Local Governments, clearly sets out the five indicators on how Local Governments can develop a vision with their communities and then produce the strategic and statutory tools to deliver that vision.
A best practice local planning system would include five key elements:
- The strategy that sets the vision for growth for the local government area;
- The local planning scheme sets out the rules for what type of development is permitted and delivers the visions;
- Delegation of planning approvals to professionals for determination;
- Timeliness of processing planning applications; and
- Performance reporting by state and local governments.
The report found that most local governments in metropolitan Perth fall well short of meeting all the elements of best practice local planning, in particular the preparation of local planning strategies.
“If local governments invested more in talking to their communities at the beginning about the vision for growth in their local area there would be less disputation at the end of the planning process when development applications are lodged.
“The key to a best practice planning model is the same as the key to a good road-trip – it all starts with a vision on where you want to end up and how you are going to get there.
“It is hoped that Local Governments and the State, will reflect on the areas they did not perform well in and revisit current practice to move from business as usual to achieving the best practice local planning system that we believe delivers strong and prosperous communities”, said Mr Iacomella.
The report is available from Benchmarking Greater Perth Local Governments