Faster Local Assessment Grant Program

Local grant program to speed up assessment times

The NSW Government has developed a new program to help support 14 selected councils across the state in Development Application (DA) and Planning Proposal (PP) assessments.

The $4.9 million program will enable councils to allocate additional resources and implement process improvements that will result in reduced assessment timeframes.

Each of the councils has been allocated $350,000 to enable process improvements to be made through a range of activities, such as the appointment of additional professional assessment staff and system improvements.

The Faster Local Assessment Grant Program will help councils to embed long-term changes in their assessment processes that contribute to faster processing times.

This support will result in:

• expediting housing supply through accelerated local DAs and PPs assessments
• empowering councils to improve capacity and outcomes for housing
• gaining a deeper understanding of assessment practices in councils with high volumes of residential development, to enable targeted improvements across all councils.

14 councils were selected based on the following criteria:

• anticipated high volume of housing to be delivered through local DAs, subdivision DAs or PPs
• opportunities to improve assessment timeframes
• had not received previous funding through the previous RSDA program (2021).

The councils eligible for the program are:

• Metropolitan Councils: Canada Bay, Fairfield City, Hawkesbury, Inner West, Penrith City, Wollondilly Shire, Woollahra
• Regional Councils: Cessnock, Eurobodalla, Port Stephens, Queanbeyan-Palerang, Shoalhaven, Singleton, Wollongong.

More information

For more information on the Faster Local Assessment Grant Program including the purpose, how councils were selected and the participation criteria:

• read the Frequently Asked Questions (PDF, 119 KB)
• view the Faster Local Assessment Grant Program Guidelines (PDF, 112 KB)
• email the Local Assessment Grants team.