4 August 2011
The Productivity Commission has today declared that Australian retail is suffering because of planning and zoning regulations that are complex and excessively prescriptive, according to the Urban Taskforce.
The Commissions views were set out in its draft report on the Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry.
The Urban Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said that town planning laws were identified as one of the regulatory regimes that was reducing the competitiveness of retailers.
This is an urgent wake-up call to every level of government, Mr Gadiel said.
The Australian retail industry is in a rut, but government has the power to fix some of its most serious problems.
The Productivity Commission found that excessively prescriptive local planning rules and restrictions on new developments were harming the retail sector. Their draft report also found that planning regulations which give businesses in some locations preference over others may be counterproductive.
Retail productivity has been suffering for a long time, courtesy of the brutal planning regulations new retailers face, Mr Gadiel said.
Were pleased that the Commission has unambiguously stated that governments should not consider the viability of existing businesses at any stage of the planning, rezoning or development assessment processes.
Mr Gadiel said that the Federal Government needs to urgently act on this issue and enlist state government in a major effort to reform outdated planning laws.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
