RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT CODE

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO (14:37): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Urban Development and Planning a question about the Residential Development Code.

Leave granted.

The Hon. CARMEL ZOLLO: The Residential Development Code, which came into force for renovations and extensions in April, is making planning and building approvals for residential housing in this state simpler, faster and cheaper. Many home owners and renovators have been able to save both time and money when lodging development applications with their local council. As long as applications for renovations and extensions meet certain requirements, waiting times for approvals have been slashed to 25 days for many carports, larger sheds, shade sails, verandahs and swimming pools, and to 35 days for alterations and additions to existing homes.

This streamlining of the development application process has provided a major improvement on waiting times compared to the previous system which could sometimes stretch out to 12 months. Will the minister provide an update on the process being undertaken by the government to roll out the Residential Development Code to new homes, and have local councils embraced this reform as a major cost saving for home buyers, especially in new housing subdivisions in the fast-growing areas of our state?

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Small Business) (14:38): I thank the honourable member for her very important question. South Australia's planning and development system has undergone a thorough and comprehensive review with the results and recommendations published by the government in June last year. Those recommendations are being systematically implemented to unlock quite significant economic benefits for this state, including the introduction of a more streamlined planning approval system for residential development.

The Residential Development Code and the now soon to be released 30 Year Plan for Greater Adelaide are tangible examples of the Rann government's ambition to make South Australia a much more affordable place in which to live and to own a house. In March I had the pleasure to launch a revolutionary new era in planning approvals for South Australia with the introduction of the Residential Development Code. Initially, the code applied only to alterations and additions.

Prior to that launch I had written to all local councils, asking them to nominate areas in which the code can apply to new homes. I am delighted to say that those responses have been received and that from 2 July the code will be rolled out for some new home applications in these nominated areas. This means that from the first Thursday in July red tape will be slashed for new home applications for detached and semi-detached dwellings.

New home approvals will be simpler, faster and cheaper—as the honourable member said—in many council areas throughout the state. For the first time in most council areas, planning applications for new dwellings will be subject to the more streamlined and simplified Residential Development Code. Code compliant applications will slash assessment times by up to 70 per cent on a large number of new dwellings, yielding a total interest saving on mortgages of up to $5,500 for each new home. By dramatically reducing waiting times for planning and building approvals, South Australia is removing disincentives to investment and putting dollars back into people's pockets.

At a time when governments are looking for ways to stimulate the economy, create jobs and limit the impact of the global financial crisis, this is a very timely reform. We have managed to do this in a little over 12 months since the recommendations of the planning and development review were made public in June last year. The number of approvals required for home improvements and renovations has been dramatically cut already by the government's decision to remove minor matters from the planning system and expand the list of household structures that now require only building consent. The rollout of the code to new home applications builds on those reforms.

The Residential Development Code also frees up councils from spending time and valuable resources on assessing low impact housing developments. I particularly thank the fast growing Playford and Salisbury councils for embracing the code as a way of delivering more cost efficient planning approval for housing developments. As I have said repeatedly in this place, our geography dictates that much of the new housing that will be required to accommodate our growing population will be built in the north of Adelaide.

These pioneering reforms allow detached and semi-detached building applications to be subject to a tick-the-box planning approval process. Applications that comply with performance control, such as site coverage, setbacks, car parking and height, will be processed far more quickly than the previous assessment system. As envisaged in our strategic rollout of this streamlined system, some local councils have applied for modified performance controls. For example, they want more specific performance controls—more boxes to tick, if you like—in relation to such objectives as building materials and built form.

The idea behind this modified version of the code is to preserve the intrinsic character of our more established suburbs and townships. Dwelling applications in these areas will not be subject to the code at this time; only areas nominated by councils will be covered. These areas will appear in today's Government Gazette.

Additional issues raised by councils, including the management of land use conflicts, implications for bushfire protection, and the character of townships and semi-urban areas have been referred to the independent Development Policy Advisory Committee for consideration. Councils will be notified of the outcome of their residential neighbourhood character submissions by September this year. They will have until 30 April 2010 to complete their application for modified code application for character.

This process will prevent new dwellings from having an adverse impact on an identified area's present character, but it also means that people applying for residential development applications in these suburbs will still have access to a modified code and all the benefits of reduced waiting times and interest rate savings that this approach to planning approval delivers.

The Rann government wants to ensure the most efficient planning system in the nation, but it does not want that objective to be achieved at the expense of the characteristics that give Adelaide suburbs and country towns their essential character and charm. Having said that, there are areas of the state that are not conducive to a tick-the-box system, and they have been excised from the application of the code. These include heritage buildings and areas, historic conservation zones and policy areas or high risk bushfire protection areas. It does not apply to development that is subject to a formal referral, such as to the Country Fire Service.

Further information on the new Residential Development Code and other reforms can be found online at the Department of Planning and Local Government's website. I look forward to the further rollout of this innovative code as South Australia moves to a more efficient planning system—one that is simpler, faster and cheaper than ever before.