Call for review committee

The days needed to determine planning applications in Baw Baw Shire has not yet seen “any measurable reduction” because of a number of influencing factors, according to council.

Community member Ian Honey questioned if Baw Baw Shire had formed a committee to review planning applications being dealt with in a timely manner.

Mr Honey submitted five questions to a recent council meeting relating to establishment of a planning review committee, asking if any councillors or staff had objected to the idea.

In a written response, council said it had yet to adopt a committee to review planning applications.

Mr Honey asked if any councillor was against the idea, name/s of any objecting councillors and if any staff member objected to the suggestion.

“There has yet to be a motion of council to adopt a delegated committee,” was council’s response.

In addition, council stated names of any objecting councillors would be known at the time a motion was put to a council meeting or if a division was called.

Mr Honey’s final question asked for “hard evidence” that planning applications were being dealt with “in a professional and expeditious manner” following a review last year.

“The performance of the planning application service has been impacted by a number of factors, including the high volume of new applications, the extent of legacy applications and staff shortages,” council responded. “As a consequence, there has not yet been any measurable reduction in the median days to determine.”

Council also stated the quarterly performance measures published in June showed the median number of days between receipt of planning applications and a decision was 120 days. This well exceeded council’s target of 99 days.

In addition, the number of planning application decisions made within 60 days was 51 per cent. This exceeded the target of just under 46 per cent.