26 May 2010
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Development Consents) Bill 2010 has passed through the NSW Parliament and is currently awaiting the Governor’s consent (which is normally a formality). It will become law once consent has been granted. This is likely to be imminent.
This new legislation will extend the life of existing development consents to five years and requiring development consents issued up until 1 July 2011 to be for a full five year period.
Regretfully, the new legislation does not extend a time limitation on a consent with a deferred commencement provision. It’s possible that a developer may have been given only (say) two years to comply with a deferred commencement condition. However, that two year period will not be extended by this law. This is disappointing.
More information on the new legislation is available here.