NSW Government
Planning

Council league table

2025–26 financial year

An example of low- and mid-rise housing at Wentworth Street, Randwick NSW. Credit: James Grabowski/DPHI

The council league table is an interactive dashboard monitoring performance for lodgement and determination of development applications in the Statement of Expectations Order 2024. Data can be viewed by council, geographic region, development type and over different time periods. 

State agency performance for concurrence, integrated development and referral timeframes is also monitored. We are also tracking how long councils take to refer assessment reports to Sydney district and regional planning panels.

More information on the data and metrics included in the council league table can be found in the 'Definitions' tab of the dashboards. 

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Council league table

The council league table monitors performance for lodgement and determination of development applications.

Visit the council league table

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Regionally significant development

The regionally significant development dashboard tracks how long councils take to refer assessment reports to Sydney and regional planning panels.

Go to the dashboard

Council performance data snapshot

July

Starting from 1 July 2024, council performance is captured on the sixth business day of every month.

For the complete July 2025 data go to:

The following July snapshot is as of 8 August 2025.

Go to Council league table – 2024–25 financial year for previous data.

Council Average lodgement days Average assessment days Details
Albury 5 68
Armidale 1 80
Ballina 5 47
Balranald 19 42
Bathurst 2 50
Bayside 4 162
Bega Valley 11 111
Bellingen 6 127
Berrigan 8 55
Blacktown 9 76
Bland 18 50
Blayney 13 240
Blue Mountains 29 75
Bogan 186
Bourke 45 81
Brewarrina 94
Broken Hill 16 194
Burwood 11 84
Byron 21 78
Cabonne 9 71
Camden 8 57
Campbelltown 4 50
Canada Bay 4 42
Canterbury-Bankstown 3 83
Carrathool 8 31
Central Coast 18 152
Central Darling 30 41
Cessnock 6 60
Clarence Valley 17 157
Cobar 5
Coffs Harbour 7 122
Coolamon 12 33
Coonamble 17 61
Cootamundra-Gundagai 19 64
Cowra 14 41
Cumberland 6 91
Dubbo 9 50
Dungog 6 57
Edward River 31 22
Eurobodalla 7 82
Fairfield 11 70
Federation 18 44
Forbes 19 49
Georges River 12 136
Gilgandra 6 18
Glen Innes Severn 31 70
Goulburn Mulwaree 4 73
Greater Hume 12 44
Griffith 9 48
Gunnedah 7 60
Gwydir 35 93
Hawkesbury 12 66
Hay 81 59
Hilltops 12 74
Hornsby 5 55
Hunters Hill 7 54
Inner West 11 87
Inverell 15 55
Junee 5
Kempsey 14 173
Kiama 16 65
Ku-ring-gai 12 104
Kyogle 22 93
Lachlan 70 48
Lake Macquarie 11 86
Lane Cove 11 38
Leeton 12 27
Lismore 9 63
Lithgow 11 100
Liverpool 13 104
Liverpool Plains 10 33
Lockhart 7 25
Maitland 4 69
Mid-Coast 12 70
Mid-Western 8 67
Moree Plains 9 49
Mosman 5 117
Murray River 15 50
Murrumbidgee 30 33
Muswellbrook 13 51
Nambucca Valley 7 25
Narrabri 7 37
Narrandera 6 19
Narromine 2 18
Newcastle 4 54
North Sydney 6 72
Northern Beaches 5 77
Oberon 18 236
Orange 8 56
Parkes 8 71
Parramatta 37 83
Penrith 13 104
Port Macquarie-Hastings 16 88
Port Stephens 8 64
Queanbeyan-Palerang 1 105
Randwick 2 67
Richmond Valley 9 47
Ryde 5 61
Shellharbour 5 52
Shoalhaven 5 107
Singleton 5 34
Snowy Monaro 11 58
Snowy Valleys 4 75
Strathfield 16 80
Sutherland 44 132
Sydney 7 67
Tamworth 11 61
Temora 9 30
Tenterfield 18 59
The Hills 4 100
Tweed 14 130
Upper Hunter 22 23
Upper Lachlan 11 82
Uralla 26 145
Wagga Wagga 7 57
Walcha 6 22
Walgett 0
Warren 43
Warrumbungle 4 109
Waverley 6 81
Weddin 30 16
Wentworth 13 107
Willoughby 15 160
Wingecarribee 15 166
Wollondilly 6 54
Wollongong 7 91
Woollahra 7 93
Yass Valley 9 169

Frequently asked questions

Which council performance measures are being monitored in the council league table?

This dashboard monitors council performance against two development assessment timeframe expectations set in the Statement of Expectations Order 2024:

Submission to lodgement

Council should lodge DAs for which it is the consent authority as soon as practical and within an average of:

  • 14 days of submission between 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025
  • 7 days of submission from 1 July 2025 onwards.

Determination

Council should determine DAs for which it is the consent authority (including DAs determined by a local planning panel) as soon as practical and whichever is the lesser of council's previous financial year average, or within an average of:

  • 115 days of lodgement between 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2025
  • 105 days of lodgement between 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026
  • 95 days of lodgement between 1 July 2026 to 30 June 2027
  • 85 days of lodgement from 1 July 2027 onwards.
What council data is available on the council league table?

The council league table produces data on the:

  • number of applications lodged and determined
  • timeframes for lodgement and assessment of DAs.

Data can be viewed by timeframe, council, geographic location, development type including residential development and cost of development.

What council performance is being monitored in the regionally significant development dashboard?

Council should prepare assessment reports for a regionally significant development application and refer to the relevant Sydney district or regional planning panel as soon as practical and within an average of 250 days from lodgement.

What does the regionally significant development data show and how frequently is the data renewed?

The data shows how long it takes for a council to refer their regionally significant development assessment report to a panel for determination. The dashboard will be updated monthly.

The monthly data snapshots capture a specific point in time and may not adequately reflect longer-term patterns of council referral times. Monitoring over a longer period of time and analysis will be essential for identifying performance trends.

What state agency data is being monitored?

Data is being monitored on state agency performance for concurrence, integrated development and referral timeframes. State agencies play an important role in progressing development assessment and can contribute to timeframe performance.

Other data on state performance for assessing state significant development (SSD) applications for in-fill affordable housing and in the transport oriented development accelerated precincts will be published in late 2024 and 2025.

Where is the data from?

Data is extracted from the NSW Planning Portal.

How will council regionally significant development timeframes be monitored?

This dashboard tracks the average time councils take to refer assessment reports to Sydney district and regional planning panels for determination. The department will record council’s performance on the sixth business day of each month and publish this data.

How should the council league table be interpreted?

The council league table provides current and historical data to show how councils are performing over time. It also shows how many applications councils are processing, to provide additional context to timeframe performance, including for residential development.

Data is in different formats (tables, graphs and maps) to make it easily accessible and more interactive.

More information in the data and metrics included the council league table can be found in the Definitions tab of the dashboard.

What does it mean if a council is in the 10 fastest or 10 slowest councils?

There are a range of reasons why timeframe performance may vary between councils. These can include the volume, type and complexity of development applications, the proportion of those development applications requiring concurrence integrated development and referral timeframes, and a council’s resourcing capacity for planning assessment.

The department will look more closely at councils that are not meeting the expectations. Additional data and advice from the department's regional teams will form the basis of a second stage of analysis to determine whether the use of any intervention measures is warranted. For more information go to Statement of Expectations Order.

Will more data be released?

Other data on state performance for assessing state significant development (SSD) applications for in-fill affordable housing and in the transport oriented development accelerated precincts will be published in late 2024 and 2025.

Why are the development assessment expectations based on gross average days?

The department recognises that development applications vary greatly in type, scale, planning merit and quality of documentation provided across the state. Setting an average expectation for lodging and assessing DAs takes these variations into account and ensures performance is monitored for all DAs.

The average development assessment days are measured in gross, and do not take into account any 'stop the clock' days when councils are waiting for additional information from applicants. This is because end-to-end timeframes are a more meaningful metric of how long development assessment is taking. As the same expectation applies for all councils across the state, this will not unfairly disadvantage any particular councils.

Has the council league table replaced the planning performance dashboard?

The council league table replaces data on the Planning Performance Dashboard for local development applications. The Planning Performance Dashboard is being revised and will be available again soon on the NSW Planning website.