0°C | Tuesday April 29, 2025 
21 March 2025
North Sydney Council wants the NSW government to provide financial support to help it improve its development assessment performance, after receiving a formal warning from planning minister Paul Scully over its below-target processing times. The proposal forms part of a plan to be put to a councillor vote Monday night.
In a letter dated 6 March, the minister requested the council submit a “swift improvement” action plan after it reported an average DA determination time of 154 days—well above the mandated 115-day target set in a ministerial order issued in July 2024.
Council responded this week by endorsing a detailed action plan that includes a mix of short- and medium-term strategies, while formally seeking NSW government funding to assist with their implementation. It also resolved to request a meeting with Scully to present its plan and argue for a revised performance stream for large and complex developments.
Council has cited the complexity and high value of DAs in the North Sydney LGA as a major factor behind its performance. According to the NSW Department of Planning’s league tables, the average DA value in the LGA was $4.43 million—reportedly the highest in the state and significantly above that of Sydney City Council. Council noted that 15% of applications were determined by external bodies such as the Land and Environment Court or the Sydney North Planning Panel, with average determination times of 408 and 260 days respectively.
“Council’s DAs are often large and complex, and many are beyond our direct control once referred to other bodies,” the report stated, adding that determination times for Regional Planning Panel DAs were impacting the league table results despite the panel not being subject to the same public performance reporting. Typically, DAs are considered by other bodies when they are rejected by Council.
Among the short-term measures now underway are the hiring of short-term contractors to assist with backlog clearance, the identification of simple DAs for rapid assessment, and weekend ‘blitz’ sessions to expedite straightforward cases. The council also committed to refusing highly non-compliant DAs more swiftly, streamlining internal referrals, and enforcing a “once only” approach to information requests.
Medium-term actions include a process mapping and assessment pathway redesign, due mid-2025, which has been supported by a Commonwealth grant. Council is also developing new DA management software—planned for staged rollout by early 2026—which it anticipates will deliver “transformative” efficiency gains.
Council further warned that even with its efforts, a “swift turnaround” would be statistically difficult to achieve given the number of older applications still in the system, many of which are due to be determined in coming months.
In addition to seeking funding, North Sydney Council has asked the minister to acknowledge that the 115-day target is unrealistic for large-scale or regionally significant DAs. It has proposed the creation of a separate performance stream for these applications, mirroring the 275-day target set for Regional Planning Panels.
It has also suggested that state performance measures should better differentiate between DA types—particularly housing-related proposals—arguing that just 27% of DAs determined during the current assessment period were for multi-unit housing.
The action plan has already begun to be implemented, with Council claiming an approximate 25% improvement in DA processing times compared to previous years. However, it continues to face issues such as what it claims as outdated internal systems, high rates of appeal, and complex heritage and amenity considerations across a densely built urban LGA.