State funding rewards local authorities that have cut planning red tape and sped up development approvals
The New South Wales government has allocated nearly $54 million in matched grants to councils that have reduced development assessment timeframes under Round One of the Faster Assessments Incentive Program.
The program ties infrastructure funding to planning performance, rewarding councils that have cut approval delays and increased housing supply. Individual grants range from $1 million to $3 million. A separate $40 million Better Open Spaces program was announced last month.
Recipients include Wollongong City Council, Lake Macquarie City Council, Blacktown City Council, Cessnock City Council, City of Parramatta Council, Port Stephens Council, Cumberland City Council, and Campbelltown City Council, among others. Of the total, $9 million has been directed to five Hunter region councils and $6 million to four councils in the Illawarra-Shoalhaven area.
"NSW needs more homes and we need them delivered faster," said Katie Stevenson (pictured right), Property Council NSW executive director. "Councils assess most development applications across the state, so improving assessment performance is one of the most effective ways to accelerate housing supply.
"It's encouraging to see the government recognising and rewarding councils that are cutting red tape, reducing delays and helping bring forward new housing opportunities for their communities.
"The Faster Assessments Incentive Program also acknowledges housing growth must be accompanied by investment in the roads, parks, sporting facilities and community spaces that make neighbourhoods great places to live."
For Paul Waterhouse (pictured right), acting chief executive of Urban Taskforce Australia, the grant program represented a practical model for addressing housing supply constraints. "It's a simple message – if you want grant funding to help with local infrastructure, deliver faster assessments," he said.
Waterhouse said the initiative supported the Minns Government's National Housing Accord targets by incentivising councils to remove barriers to development while subsidising local infrastructure projects.
"Local government incentives are the right move for housing supply," he added. "The NSW Government's awarding of infrastructure grant funding to high performing councils is a sensible approach to delivering urgently needed new housing supply."
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