7 September 2011
The budget papers reveal that the Department was given only $80 million in 2010/2011, when the former government had announced it fund it with $105.6 million. This year, the budget papers say the Department will be funded to the tune of $102.4 million.
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure has won money from Treasury for a number of new initiatives in the 2011/12 financial year:
- $4.5 million carrying out its Planning Review, led by Tim Moore and Ron Dyer.
- $2.4 million to “deliver” regional land use plans for the Upper Hunter and New England North West, “to balance the growth of the mining and gas industries with the needs of the agricultural sector and local communities”.
- $5.4 million on the Planning Assessment Commission “to deliver a robust and independent system for assessing state significant development and infrastructure”. We understand that this will be used to fund full-time commissioners, support staff and a program of regional meetings around major approval processes.
- $2.3 million for joint regional planning panels to assess regionally significant developments. This will provide the Department with additional capacity to assist the panels with the larger scale residential, commercial and retail projects they will now be required to assess given the repeal of Part 3A.
- $1 million to further expand the exempt and complying development codes.
- $4.3 million to deliver “ePlanning solutions”.
Some existing initiatives will continue although some have been re-badged.
For example, the $10 million LEP Acceleration Fund has been transformed into an $11.8 million to implement the Comprehensive Local Environment Plan Fund. Details on the existing scheme are here.
The budget papers say $10.6 million has been allocated to “support” the rezoning of six precincts within Sydney’s growth centres. This appears to be just a continuation of funding for the Department’s staffing costs for former Growth Centres Commission staff. It seems likely that the six precincts referred to are amongst the seven growth centre precincts that have been “released”, but not rezoned.
A $1.7 million to “improve urban renewal particularly around transport nodes” is touted, but this is just a continuation of a previous initiative. Newcastle CBD has been expressly nominated in connection with this initiative.
The budget papers refer to $3 million to “deliver” a new Affordable Housing Choice Policy to promote “affordable housing” development. However, we understand that, in fact, this money was not allocated, and it appears in the budget papers by error.
In terms of the Department of Planning and Infrastructure’s internal structure, Tom Gellibrand’s division of the Department (“Plan Making and Urban Renewal”) has been cut in the last financial year from 215 staff to 194 staff, and it’s expected to fall to 190 staff in the current financial year. Ian Reyonds’ division (“Strategies and Land Release”) jumped by 18 staff in the last financial year (to 118), and they intend to hold that number through the current financial year. Staff involved in development assessment (Richard Pearson’s area) will increase from 199 to 209. This suggests that the loss in Part 3A application fee revenue will be offset by the additional funding for the Planning Assessment Commission and joint regional planning panels.
Gateway process
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure expects to nearly halve the number of new homes approved for rezoning through LEP gateway process, from an estimate of 38,000 homes in 2010/2011, to 20,000 in 2011/12. Although, in its defence, the Department would argue that the last financial year number was an unexpected spike – it had originally thought that there would be just 15,000 homes processed through the gateway in that year.
Strategies
The Department of Planning and Infrastructure is now expecting to complete the outstanding sub-regional strategies, following its finalisation of the Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036. There is also a focus on new strategic regional land use plans for the Upper Hunter and New England North West. All up the Department says it will finalise 10 strategies in the current financial year. In the past they have always got this wrong. For example, last year they said they would finalise 18 strategies, but they actually only finalised one.
The budget papers are clearly written on the assumption that the Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036 still firmly reflects the government’s land use planning aspirations. However, we feel that there are still questions about the government’s commitment to Metropolitan Plan for Sydney 2036. It may be wise to ‘stand by’ for further developments on this front.
