Western Sydney families win from red tape cut

14 December 2007

Western Sydney families will benefit from the State Governments decision to exempt the North and South West growth centres from the Threatened Species Act, according to the NSW Urban Taskforce.

The Governments made the decision to address key environmental issues across the region, Mr Gadiel.

This has removed the need to bog down individual housing developments in endless red tape.

Red tape means that development applications often take up to 9-12 months to get resolved. Some even take years to get sorted out.

The extra costs imposed by the delay can add up to 15 per cent of total project costs.

Every day a project is held up, a developer has to pay interest on their debt and lose income on capital tied up in the project.

This decision means quicker planning decisions and more affordable homes.

It also means more open space and protected reserves. I congratulate the Assistant Environment Minister, Verity Firth, and the Planning Minister, Frank Sartor, for delivering more affordable housing.

The NSW Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing NSWs most prominent and important developers, builders and property financiers.

The NSW development industrys annual turnover is $35 billion and employs 180,000 people, accounting for six percent of the States total employment. It is the fifth largest contributor to the State economy.