Winners and losers in Development Assessment Report Card

Winners and losers in Development Assessment Report CardAustralia’s states and territories must step up their planning reform efforts to take pressure off house prices, finds the Property Council of Australia’s 2015 Development Assessment Report Card.The most comprehensive assessment of Australia’s planning framework ever undertaken, the report was released at Parliament House in Canberra by the Assistant Minister for Infrastructure and Regional Development, the Hon Jamie Briggs MP (pictured).It is a result of six months’ work by the Property Council’s residential leadership group, the Residential Development Council, and consultants Macroplan, and is based on interviews with more than 1000 industry and planning professionals.According to Property Council chief executive, Ken Morrison, poor planning and antiquated development assessment processes are driving up the price of housing and commercial projects.”Getting planning right will boost housing construction -which is not only good for affordability, but keeps the economy strong and provides tax revenues for governments,” Morrison says.While the scores reveal some gradual improvements against the planning principles, Morrison says the results are still “decidedly average” across all Australian jurisdictions, stifling new housing, increasing costs and impacting affordability.”Planning needs to be recognised as a tool to drive economic growth and address housing affordability – report card scores ranging from 5.6 to 7.7 simply don’t cut it.”Some states and territories have grasped the importance of planning reform, while others are lagging behind.Victoria has made “great strides” over the past three years, says Victorian executive director Jennifer Cunich. “However, we’ve still got a long way to go in taking the political heat out of development assessment – bedding down the new residential zones, working with councils to share the growth and better utilising existing infrastructure,” Cunich says.Queensland’s score improved more than any other state – from 5.8 to 6.8 out of 10 – with Queensland executive director Chris Mountford welcoming the change in attitudes towards planning and reform. “In the three years since the last report card was released, a consensus has emerged across stakeholders and political divides that a better planning and development assessment system is a priority for Queensland,” Mountford says. Ranked seventh of eight jurisdictions, NSW is falling behind other states, with planning system complexity, local council politics and excessive time delays affecting housing development.”Even with record levels of housing approvals, NSW is on track to have a housing deficit of 190,000 dwellings by 2031,” says NSW executive director Glenn Byres.Download 2015 Development Assessment Report Card (3rd edition).