News & Events

Mayor of Blacktown City, Councillor Charlie Lowles has confirmed that Blacktown City Council will be one of only 12 Role Model Councils in NSW to trial a new planning program: the 'Electronic Housing Code Pilot'.

On Monday, October 26, at the 2009 Local Government Association Conference in Tamworth, NSW Minister for Planning, the Hon Kristina Keneally MP, announced that Blacktown City Council and 11 other Councils will jointly trial electronic planning initiatives with the NSW Government.

"I am proud that this joint program between the Department of Planning and Blacktown City Council will be the focus for fast-tracking online service delivery in planning and will set the pace for other NSW Councils to follow later in 2010 and onwards," Mayor Lowles said.

Minister Keneally said: "I congratulate the 12 role model councils who successfully applied to participate in this innovative pilot program which represents a new way forward in meeting the planning needs of high-growth NSW communities."

LGA President Mayor Genia McCaffrey said "The Electronic Housing Code Pilot is a significant collaboration between the Department of Planning and Local Government in the e-Planning area, where the use of electronic processes in delivering planning and development services can contribute tangible benefits to all planning system stakeholders."

Shires Association President Cr Bruce Miller added: "This dynamic e-Planning initiative is an important opportunity for productive partnership between the Department of Planning and NSW Local Councils. Everyone can benefit."

This new initiative is part of a much broader vision to develop an e-Planning Roadmap for NSW. A key project in the e-Planning Roadmap's initial phase will be this Electronic Housing Code Pilot. Funded by the Federal Government's Housing Affordability Fund (HAF), the pilot focuses on the development of online systems for the lodgement and processing of development applications, using the NSW Housing Code as a case study.

" The use of Housing Code-based applications for the pilot will assist in fast-tracking approval processes, contributing to housing affordability through time and cost savings by reducing the resources needed to prepare, monitor and evaluate proposals as well as reducing holding costs through the faster processing and approval times," Mayor Lowles said.

"The goal is to make it more cost-effective for government, state as well as local, to offer these services online. We hope it will pave the way to demonstrating how - by collaborating across stakeholders and systems - we can reduce costs, further mitigate risks and deliver better outcomes for the Blacktown City community and all NSW communities," Mayor Lowles said

The twelve 'Role Model Councils' selected to participate in the EHC Pilot are: