Draft Development Policies – Supporting Faster, Smarter DA Processes
AlburyCity has drafted two new policies designed to make development applications (DAs) clearer and faster—for both applicants and staff. These policies directly support our commitment to meet the Ministerial Statement of Expectations for planning performance.
Why this work matters
In 2024, a service review by SJB Planning confirmed our Development team is performing well processing more applications per staff member than most NSW councils and maintaining competitive turnaround times. However, the review also highlighted practical changes we could make to improve efficiency further.
In response, The Planning Studio was engaged to implement key recommendations. Since August 2024, they’ve focused on:
- Pre-lodgment improvements – helping applicants submit ‘assessment ready’ applications, which reduces delays.
- DA performance – setting clear expectations for both Council and applicants to streamline assessments.
How we’re tracking
We aim to process DAs within 35 working days. As of March, our average was 31 days. Over the past 12 months, this has ranged from 58 to 31 days (net days, excluding applicant response times).
Under the Ministerial Statement of Expectations, we’re required to:
- Lodge DAs within an average of 14 days (tightening to 7 days from July 2025); and
- Finalise assessments within a maximum average of 99 days, decreasing incrementally.
We’re currently ahead of these targets, lodging in 10 days and assessing in 96 (based on gross days with no 'stop the clock' pauses—unlike our internal reporting).
These draft policies are an important step in ensuring our planning process stays clear, consistent, and community focused.
We welcome your feedback on the DRAFT Development Service Levels Action Plan Policies. Submissions will be received until 5pm Monday 30 June 2025 and can be submitted via the form below or addressed to:
City Development
PO Box 323
Albury, NSW 2640
or email us at:
Submissions are not confidential. Submissions, summaries of submissions, and/or names and addresses of people making submissions may be included in publicly available reports to Council and Council's website.
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