Wollongong City Council is confident of reducing complex Development Applications (DA) processing times by 20-30 days as part of improvements to its Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel (IHAP).

The IHAP was first introduced by Council’s Administrators in October 2008 to increase community involvement in the planning process.

The IHAP is made up of a rotating panel of three experts from the fields of planning, urban design, law, architecture or environment, as well as one community member from the local government area.

The Panel looks specifically at more complex DAs that have attracted a large number of objections or include variations to development standards. It also reviews certain DAs on Council land where Council has a commercial interest.

Administrator Robert McGregor AM, said a review of the IHAP has shown it is proving a very successful forum for community debate and independent review, but some minor changes could speed the process up.

“At the moment if a DA goes through the IHAP, Council Officers undertake an assessment, the IHAP undertake a separate assessment, and both reports are put to a full Council Meeting for a final decision,” Administrator McGregor said.

 “Tonight the Administrators agreed that if both the staff recommendation and the IHAP recommendation are the same, if the recommendations concur but include additional conditions, and if the DA does not exceed planning controls by more than 10 percent, the DA can be forwarded to Senior Managers for decision, rather than a full Council Meeting.”

“By allowing senior staff to make the final decision on certain DAs that have already been independently reviewed by the IHAP, we expect to save 20-30 days on processing times,” Mr McGregor added.

“Since it was established two years ago, the IHAP has considered more than 50 DAs and has provided opportunities to build community input and confidence into the planning process.”