Housing Plans Put On 10-day Fast Track
Sydney Morning Herald
Saturday December 13, 2008
BUILDING plans for tens of thousands of single- and double-storey houses, home extensions and swimming pools could be approved in 10 days under a housing code gazetted by the State Government yesterday.
Planners and local councils have warned that the new code, which encourages builders to simplify their plans in return for quick approval, will encourage McMansion-style housing, set neighbour against neighbour and spark a turf war between councils and private building certifiers.With local government taking 75 days, on average, to approve new homes, the state hopes at least half of the more than 100,000 people who submit development applications to councils every year will use the new code instead.The Minister for Planning, Kristina Keneally, said the code - which stipulates how big, how high and where a new house is positioned on a block - would take effect on February 27, so people could take advantage of the $17,000 worth of first-home owner grants offered by the Federal and State governments."If a proposed house meets set standards, which limit its potential impact on neighbours and the look of a street, it should not be tied up in red tape," Ms Keneally said."The code provides a straightforward approval process for straightforward buildings. For example, it currently covers some 80 per cent of all project homes available on the market."Proposals for lots over 450 square metres can be approved by an accredited certifier or council within 10 days if they meet the new standards, which include capping building heights at 8.5 metres, dictating how close houses can be built to boundaries and limiting a house's footprint.The final code did not have broad professional support, was flawed and contradictory, and looked too complicated to allow a building plan to be approved in 10 days, said Canada Bay Council's director of planning, Tony McNamara.Mr McNamara, one of several local government and industry representatives involved in heated negotiations with the Government about the code since June, said there was no doubt it was taking too long and costing too much to process DAs.He said the Government had ripped up a long tradition of public consultation about planning reforms by failing to exhibit the code before gazetting it."Good luck. [Ten days] is a short time-frame and I suspect there will be a lot of [complying] certificates issued that shouldn't be. There are going to be a few unhappy neighbours around." Mr McNamara said neighbours would not be able to object to anything in a building plan that met the code, and would not learn about any building proposal until after it had been approved.But the principal architect at Environa Studio, Tone Wheeler, said councils wanted to retain too much control over building plans.Mr Wheeler was also closely involved with designing the code. He welcomed the new rules but said they did not go far enough in encouraging good house design."I wanted to get rid of the box-on-box, McMansion-style houses. But as for the intent of the code, architects are totally in support. I think there are so many good things in it that it would be a shame if some stakeholders tried to sabotage it."THE CODE* Building heights capped at 8.5 metres.* Site coverage limited to 50 per cent of the lot if 450-900 sqm, 30 per cent if above 1500 sqm.* Houses must be 900mm from side boundaries.* Code will not apply in environmentally sensitive areas, to heritage or conservation items.* Neighbours cannot object.
© 2008 Sydney Morning Herald