[+] Regional Councils Team Up to Get Planning Flowing Again

Across Australia, councils and local government areas are finding themselves stuck—almost half have no planners. “We know that there are 232 local government areas in Australia (43 per cent) where there are no planners working within them,” Planning Institute of Australia chief executive Matt Collins says. That astounding figure means nearly half of the country’s councils cannot do what is a key aspect of their role—assess development applications. It has become a mammoth obstacle for a nation trying to resolve a housing crisis. But it is not a new problem . In 2022, it was NSW that had the problem according to Jobs and Skills Australia’s (JSA) annual Skills Priority List but in 2023 the problem has worsened, Collins says. “In the past 12 months, the Skills Priority List shows that urban and regional planners shortages have grown from NSW to a shortage in every state and territory except the ACT. “The new data tells us we now have a statewide shortage in NSW and South Australia, and regional shortages in Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the Northern Territory.” Those shortages in Victoria are so acute that several councils are thinking outside the box to address the issue Their proposed solution? Share the burden. A novel solution Sharing planners has happened before—last year, the-then NSW premier, Dominic Perrottet, announced that a flying squad of planners would be available to travel to urban and regional councils to help with assessing planning applications. And more recently, the newly elected Chris Minns government in NSW announced it would move staff around and bring more people from other committees into the planning department to help assess applications faster . Previous Victorian planning minister Richard Wynne also tried to speed up planning approvals . But what is new is that under an agreement between 10 councils in rural Victoria resources will be pooled. ▲ Swan Hill mayor Les McPhee: The council is one of the drivers behind the new regional solution to the housing crisis. The Loddon Mallee Housing Action Plan, finalised in November and now being adopted and implemented, was driven primarily by the Swan Hill Shire Council and has several objectives. Key to it is that the councils want to pool resources and have asked for funding for a housing officer role who will work for all council as needed. “There are common housing issues across the Loddon Mallee region, so it makes sense for us to ... have an officer working towards a consistent approach to the strategic deliverables identified in the plan,” Campaspe Shire Council mayor Rob Amos says. “We are one of 10 local governments that has committed funds towards the creation of a regional housing officer position, dedicated to the delivery of Housing Action Plan strategies across the region.” Swan Hill mayor Les McPhee said the availability of rental properties was just one part of the complex issue of social and affordable housing competing for available housing stock. “In our municipality there is also a further housing need for accommodation for professional workers, semi-professional workers and seasonal workers—this is stretching our local housing resources to the limit,” he said. “The issue of housing will become further challenging with advancing industries such as the mining sector—as these industries expand in the region our municipality is becoming a retail centre for a growing workforce, creating a significant flow-on effect.” The Loddon Mallee will need 87,400 new homes within the next 15 years—it has been estimated it will lose an estimated $1 billion in gross domestic product if that doesn’t happen. About 5 per cent of Victoria’s population—340,000 people—live in the region. ▲ Campaspe Council mayor Rob Amos says the 10 council areas in the Loddon Mallee region have many housing issues in common. Campaspe council's September planning meeting agenda included an item detailing the housing action plan and the $150,000 it is estimated the role will cost for the first year. After the first year, which will act as a demonstration period, the councils will apply to the state government to fund the role through the Regional Jobs and Infrastructure Fund at a cost of $300,000 for two years. A consultation process was undertaken with each of the 10 councils in the Loddon Mallee region taking part: Mildura, Buloke, Gannawarra, Swan Hill, Loddon, Campaspe, Bendigo, Central Goldfield, Mount Alexander and Macedon Ranges. Six strategies were decided on. These included improving strategic planning for future housing, addressing the need for money for trunk and other necessary infrastructure, speeding up development of any zoned or suitable land for housing, and helping improve developer feasibility for medium-density infill housing projects. Addressing the demand for affordable and secure housing and reducing the time and cost of unlocking new land were also included. Many of the councils have part time staff who do some of the necessary planning work in a housing officer’s role but there is no capacity for these staff to help deliver the strategies outlined in the action plan. The Loddon Mallee Regional Development Australia (RDA) committee, based within Development Victoria, has put up an initial $75,000 for the first year of the role with the councils funding the remainder of the $150,000 budget. Initially, the Swan Hill Rural City Council, as the driver of the plan, will organise its adoption and initial implementation among the councils while a Loddon Mallee Housing Action Plan implementation taskforce is established. The Swan Hill council’s taskforce will act as a body for governance with a view that this role will be rotated through the councils. Obstacles to regional housing development Planning has long been a headache for regional councils. Demand for housing in the regions skyrocketed due to pandemic-driven migration to the bush and has continued as increasing housing prices in cities and suburbs have buyers looking further afield. The rise of working from home has allowed many who would otherwise feel trapped in expensive locations the freedom to move to more affordable or accessible regions. But regional councils cannot approve or build new housing fast enough to keep up with demand. One of the biggest issues is unlocking empty land for development faster, according to the Campaspe Shire Council’s agenda item for the housing action plan. “A significant common issue across the region is the existence of vacant or surplus-to-requirement land held by state government departments that would be highly suitable for housing, however, the inability to release this land due to bureaucratic processes presents as a major impediment,” the agenda said. “If this project was able to influence a transferable pathway for releasing land of this nature for housing development, this would be a significant benefit for the region.” Many large stretches of crown or council-owned greenfield land exist but need major changes to planning schemes and structure plans to allow residential and other associated uses. Unlocking land isn’t enough on its own. ▲ A lack of trunk infrastructure is a major issue for developing regional land. But much of the empty land is former farmland with little to no trunk infrastructure such as water, sewage and power connections. Putting the infrastructure into these sites is extremely expensive and requires dealing with landowners and state government bodies. It’s not a cost councils with limited funds can bear, nor the developers trying to make projects stack up as materials and labour costs continue to rise. Some state governments have tried to address this— NSW has put in more money for trunk infrastructure . The Loddon Mallee action plan includes better liasion between state government departments and councils over barriers to accessing Development Contributions Plans and Infrastructure Contributions Plans, and accessing NHFIC funding for infrastructure. A registery of under-used land would be compiled and a equity partnership program for landowners and developers established with Development Victoria. It will also be used to market potential development opportunities for developers outdside the region, such as Melbourne and Bendigo. The hosuing office would also look at strategic regional planning, strategising for housing supply for the next 30 years and advocating for a share of windfall-gains tax revenue to support housing and infrastructure costs. Analysing existing planning frameworks, creating precinct structure plans, identifying areas for land release, creating planning hubs and partnering with universities to increase the number of planners are also listed actions. On the last action, Collins agrees says, “The institute has recently written to the Australian government expressing our concern about the pipeline of future planners with recent course closures at James Cook University and Bond University, and states including Tasmania and South Australia now lacking an undergraduate planning degree altogether. “We are urging governments and universities to invest in growing the planning profession and promoting planning as a career choice.” ▲ Bendigo, Ballarat (pictured), and other regional Victorian councils recently lost one possible housing solution, the Commonwealth Games, when it was cancelled. The housing officer will also review planning controls, create an alliance of developers, builders and others willing to build in the region, advocate to the state government for a bounty per unit for developers for each medium-density project developed in the region and advocate for the state government to prioritise more medium-density infill projects. First Nations housing projects and rural and seasonal worker accommodation are also on the list as is advocating for an extension of the Big Housing Build to regional Victoria. A regional service to help identify projects for the Development Facilitation Program, researching low-cost construction options, and advocating for expanding the Regional Planning Hub to help speed up approvals are also actions listed in the plan. The cancellation of the Commonwealth Games has also rendered some of the actions in the plan irrelevant—there will no longer be atheletes villages built to be converted into housing after the Games, leaving Bendigo and four other councils in regional Victoria without a solution to their housing woes. While it is in the initial stages of implementation, what the action plan can offer now is a potential solution to problems faced by many developers who have otherwise paused or dropped projects. And for those needing somewhere to live in this region, it offers hope. 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Construction
Marisa Wikramanayake
Mon 09 Oct 23

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