MidCoast Council is helping support local jobs and the economy, with $310 million worth of development assessed over the past twelve months.
Council assessed 891 development applications, including new homes, businesses and subdivisions that can help build a stronger local community.
At the Council meeting on 23 July 2025, Councillors reviewed the latest development activity report. It showed that Council received 1,570 customer requests for development assessment during the quarter – approximately 10% of all requests lodged with Council.
Council is working hard to speed things up. Thanks to internal triage improvements and a Fast Track system for uncomplicated development applications, wait times have gone down over the last two years. Council now takes an average of 84 days to approve a development application – faster than the state average of 101 days and the regional group average of 96 days. For Fast Track applications, approval takes just 15 days.
MidCoast Council is among the busiest councils in NSW when it comes to development activity, being in the top 10 Councils statewide for the number of development applications assessed.
While Council handles most development assessments for the area, some larger developments (State Significant Development) are handled directly by the State Government.
At times, Council needs to refer development assessments to State Government agencies like Transport for NSW and the Environmental Protection Authority which may add to the wait times for a determination.
With housing on the minds of many, Council is determined to do all it can to further improve development assessment turnaround times.
Council is also looking at how it can support affordable and accessible housing in the region with the preparation of an Affordable Housing Policy.
