Glen Innes Severn Council has endorsed a Mayoral Minute calling for simple, practical changes to the NSW planning system to speed up housing approvals and boost supply across the state.
Council says two key bottlenecks are still holding up new homes, even after the passage of the Planning System Reforms Bill 2025 and the introduction of the 60-Day Deemed Approval Bill.
The first is that basic, low-risk home builds still have to lodge a full Development Application (DA) and go through the same complex steps as a major commercial project. This ties up council planners, delays standard homes and sheds and slows approvals for more complex, higher-density housing as well.
The second is that changes to Local Environmental Plans (LEPs) can take up to 420 days — not including months of preparatory work — under a one-size-fits-all State process that holds back the release of new housing land in councils right across NSW.
“You can’t solve a housing crisis with a system that treats a family home like a shopping centre and makes every land-use change take more than a year,” Mayor Margot Davis said.
“NSW needs more homes, so we must clear the two main blockages: move simple residential projects out of the DA system and speed up land release. Do that, and the whole planning system moves faster.”
Council’s position also opposes weaker environmental and bushfire safeguards, new Local Planning Panels that cut Councillors out of local development decisions, 60-day deemed approvals that ignore critical town planner shortages and a Housing Delivery Authority model that favours the delivery of housing in metropolitan areas over regional and rural communities.
Council is calling for two key reforms:
• A single, streamlined Building Application pathway for standard homes and routine residential work – removing them from the full DA process and allowing qualified certifiers to approve simple projects. This back-to-basics model is suggested to draw on the pre-1998 NSW or current Queensland system.
• A faster, tailored, risk-based LEP amendment process – so low-risk, compliant land-use changes don’t face lengthy State timeframes, unlocking housing land sooner.
“We want planning reform – but we want the right reform,” Cr Davis said. “Our approach would speed up housing delivery across NSW while maintaining environmental and bushfire safeguards and keeping local democratic voices at the table.”
Council will now prepare a detailed submission to the NSW Government.
Like what you’re reading? Support New England Times by making a small contribution today and help us keep delivering local news paywall-free. Donate now