Planning reforms will benefit WA

Planning reforms will benefit WAThe WA Government has taken up a number of reforms specifically recommended by the Property Council, ensuring that there will be major improvements to the state’s planning system.A number of planning reforms outlined in the discussion paper ‘Planning Makes it Happen: Phase Two’ are designed to facilitate faster housing approvals and implement savings in the cost and time taken to develop land.Among the key reform initiatives contained in the Phase Two blueprint are recommendations to improve statutory planning processes; enforce greater alignment of local schemes with state planning policies; align strategic planning and infrastructure planning; and improve the administration of Development Assessment Panels.According to the Property Council, the last round of reforms to be enacted in WA was responsible for substantially improving the state’s land-use planning and development approvals system. It stated that the new reforms will push WA to the forefront of the national planning conversation.To view the Phase Two blueprint, go to: www.planning.wa.gov.au/dop_pub_pdf/planning_reform_blueprint.pdfFor more on the Property Council’s reaction to the Phase Two blueprint, visit: www.propertyoz.com.au/Article/Resource.aspx?p=21&media=2445