Liverpool Council has worked hard to clear a massive backlog of development approvals, reducing the number waiting for approval by 70 percent over the last two years, says acting CEO, Jason Breton.
He was responding to criticism Liverpool Council was at the bottom of the ladder in a new “league table’’ by the State Government as part of its response to the housing crisis in Sydny and NSW.
“There is still more to be done, but I want to pay tribute to the dedicated council staff who have worked long and hard to overcome what was a massive backlog of applications awaiting approval,’’ Mr Breton said.
“The league table ranking does not take into consideration the differences between councils.
This was displayed by media coverage that rated a small country council that handled 24 DAs worth just more than $10 million as number one.
“By contrast, Liverpool City Council processed 729 applications worth more than $2 billion. In addition, the league table ranking does not recognise the “stop the clock” provision when for many reasons a DA application is set aside so further work can be done to resolve issues,’’ he said.
“Large complex applications require time to execute due diligence. Under the legislation, councils are required to ensure all development applications comply with the relevant rules and regulations.
“We have all seen in the media what happens when developers cut corners. Liverpool Council does not want to inflict this on its residents and ratepayers and sometimes it takes time to ensure this does not take place,’’ Mr Breton said.
“Liverpool Council is working with the State Government to speed up the development of its most strategic fastest growing area.
“I recently met with the State Government to work through development constraints that, once resolved, will continue to improve our development response times.
“This is anticipated to help strategically important communities like Austral gain the vital development infrastructure that is so desperately needed.’’
