In our current crisis of housing affordability and availability, development approvals are under significant pressure. Rules are changing, technology and systems can be both frustrating and demanding, planners are in demand between Councils and across different sectors, and developers and citizens are often chasing multiple and sometimes conflicting outcomes.
State government has recently stated they expect more and faster applications to be approved. Councillors hear multiple perspectives from their constituents - for or against an individual development and/or passionate assertions about broader issues such as heritage conservation and tree cover. Neighbours may seek to resist any impact arising from a proposed development, and of course, applicants want the right to pursue their dreams at the lowest possible price.
Council development assessment planners are thus required to balance the competing expectations and demands of several stakeholders.
In such a fraught space, a Service Review can assist Local Council development assessment teams to consider and analyse key management issues and pressures. For example:
A Service Review can help your Council streamline operations, reduce processing times, and improve decision-making. By identifying bottlenecks, optimising workflows, and enhancing communication, you can deliver faster, more efficient, and more transparent development assessments.
Centium has been working with NSW Councils for the past two years on various Service Reviews, including several relating to development assessment.
A consistent element of our methodology is benchmarking, and we focus on two types:
We are currently finalising a benchmarking exercise that focuses on resourcing levels for development assessment between eight Sydney Councils.
We started with a quantitative approach - collecting data against agreed measures including number and level of planners, availability of specialist advisors (heritage, ecology, engineering etc.), litigation levels, administrative support, etc. Our next step is to convene a benchmarking workshop to discuss comparative insights and performance strategies. Importantly, we have committed to distributing our analysis to all participating Councils.
Every Council is unique, but comparing with colleagues helps participants to better understand the local factors that shape and influence performance. These insights help to identify improvement strategies and achieve desired outcomes.
If your Council would like to undertake a service review of your development assessment or any other service, consider partnering with a reputable consulting firm experienced in local government service reviews.
Centium possesses the expertise and experience to design and implement service review frameworks tailored to your Council context and performance objectives. Our team has undertaken over 20 service reviews which equips them well to understand the unique challenges associated with development assessment and other service delivery. We are confident of conduct a range of reviews that meet your Council's specific needs.
For more information, please contact Penny Corkill, Partner Risk & Assurance from the details below.
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