The Sydney councils shamed over development assessment delays

The NSW government has taken unprecedented action against several local councils to speed up their housing approval rates, after warning any local governments falling short of strict time targets would be stripped of planning powers.

The Department of Planning has appointed specialist planning staff to oversee internal development assessment processes at Georges River, Sutherland, and Willoughby councils in Sydney, as well as Wingecarribee Council in the Southern Highlands, after they were found to be taking too long to assess and determine standard housing applications.

Last year, the state government launched an online “league table” identifying councils with the slowest and fastest housing approval rates, warning any council found falling behind could have planning administrators appointed, or have its assessment powers reassigned to independent planning panels.

Georges River Council – which covers large swathes of Premier Chris Minns’ own electorate of Kogarah – ranked as the slowest performing council in NSW in 2024-25 financial year, approving just 7 per cent of residential development applications within the 115-day expected time frame, according to the league table data.

Sutherland Council approved 24 per cent of applications within the 115-day target, Willoughby Council recorded a rate of 35 per cent and Wingecarribee – which takes in the towns of Mittagong, Bowral and Moss Vale – recorded a rate of 32 per cent.

For the first time, NSW Planning Minister Paul Scully has intervened by appointing specialist planning staff to closely monitor the development applications processes at Georges River, Willoughby and Wingecarribee.

Meanwhile, Sutherland Council will be assigned an “expert engineer” in a bid to accelerate its assessment processes.

North Sydney and Queanbeyan-Palerang councils will also be “closely monitored” by the Department of Planning after recording average approval rates below 60 per cent in 2024-25, the minister said.

The action comes after Scully wrote warning letters to each of the six councils demanding they create detailed plans to improve their assessment performance rates.

Scully said the intervention against the six councils should send a warning to other councils also found to be “dragging the chain”.

“They should know they’re being monitored and I remain willing to appoint expert planners to improve things,” he said.

The action has fuelled fire in an ongoing debate about the role local councils are taking in addressing the state’s housing supply. In a statement, Strathfield Council – which had an approval rate of below 50 per cent last financial year – warned “standard development outcomes should not be compromised for the sake of more expedient assessment timeframes”.

Real Estate NSW chief executive Tim McKibbin questioned the effectiveness of the league table in solving the state’s housing needs, arguing approvals do not necessarily equate to an increase in housing completion rates.

NSW government budget papers released last month stated current factors hampering supply include rising building costs, labour shortages, high interest rates and reduced investment in the sector.

Georges River Council, in a statement, did not respond to questions about its assessment rate but said it was “working closely with the state-appointed expert planner” to reduce development assessment timeframes.

In a statement, Sutherland Council stated it had recorded a 22 per cent improvement in its processing times over the last year but noted many applications required multiple layers of consideration to reflect the region’s “steep topography, significant waterways, important ecological communities” and other factors.

Willoughby Council acting general manager Sam Connor said the council was “working hard” to speed up assessment rates, budgeting $1.2 million to hire extra planning staff this financial year.

The league table data shows the state’s approval rate for housing applications averaged at 101 days in the 2024-25 financial year with Campbelltown, Fairfield and Blacktown Councils among the fastest performing councils.

This was an improvement on last year, when the state’s average approval rate was 114 days.

However, under the state government’s expectations order, introduced last year, councils must determine development applications within an average of 105 days in 2025–26, 95 days in 2026–27 and 85 days from July 2027.

The crackdown on slow councils comes as it was reported last week that NSW Labor was considering changes to enable terraces, townhouses, and apartment blocks up to six storeys to be deemed “complying developments”, enabling the projects to gain planning approval without going through the more extensive development application process. Such approval is typically issued by private certifiers.

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