Council is waiting to hear if it will be successful in receiving grant funding under round one of the NSW Government's Faster Assessments Incentive Program which rewards top performing councils for their development assessment (DA) times during the 2024–25 financial year.
Council is among 33 metropolitan and 20 regional eligible local government areas (LGAs) who will be in the running for a share of up to $67 million of grant funding to deliver local infrastructure such as roads, open spaces, and community facilities.
Under the Ministerial Statement of Expectations set out by the NSW Government, the target for Shoalhaven Council in 2024-25 was 110 calendar days, which was achieved.
Mayor Patricia White said round one of eligible councils would be scored and ranked based on their average assessment timeframes in 2024–25 and their improvement against their average over the previous three years.
"We are a large regional area with constraints and challenges such as natural hazards and more complex proposals that are different to other councils," Cr White said.
"Despite the complexity of some applications, and the comparatively high volume being received, staff work hard to ensure every development assessment is compliant and meets good planning standards," she said.
The Department of Planning's league table also shows that in 2024-25 Shoalhaven Council received 929 DAs, putting Council in the top 10 for number of applications lodged.
Successful councils will be contacted in September and October by the Department of Planning following completion of the assessment process and asked to nominate an eligible infrastructure project.
