Smarter, simpler planning for Tasmania
A single, state-wide planning scheme has been proposed for Tasmania, catapulting the state up the ranks for best planning system and paving the way for more jobs and economic growth.
Peter Gutwein, Tasmania’s minister for planning and local government, says new laws will ensure around 80 per cent state-wide consistency, which will “provide more clarity and certainty for everyone”.
Currently, the planning system, which Gutwein calls a “nightmare”, is just 15 per cent consistent across Tasmania’s 29 councils in three regions.
“The planning system will be faster, fairer, simpler and cheaper, which will encourage more confidence for those looking to invest and expand,” Gutwein says.
“It will provide the right platform for more economic development and ultimately create more jobs.”
Mary Massina, executive chair of the Tasmanian Planning Reform Taskforce, says Tasmanians have been calling for “clarity, consistency and certainty in planning” for more than a decade.
A single state-wide planning scheme will remove what Massina calls the “single biggest barrier to investment and job creation”.
“The creation of a single set of planning rules will take Tasmania from the worst to first,” she says, adding that the state “leads the nation” in reforming the planning system.
According to the Property Council’s Tasmanian executive director Brian Wightman, Tasmania recently ranked last in the Property Council’s Development Assessment Report Card 2015.
The suite of reforms will deliver consistency, drive improvement and “lead to the state moving off the bottom rung of the planning ladder,” Wightman says.
“The property sector is a major player in the state’s economy, contributing $2 billion in Gross State Product, employing seven per cent of the workforce and driving a significant resurgence of activity across Tasmania.
“Improved consistency will lead to productivity gains and ultimately job creation,” Wightman adds.
The Hodgman Government promises the new planning system will be operational by 2017.