The Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment (Planning System Reforms) Bill 2025 has been introduced by the NSW Government in its attempt to boost housing approvals, reduce duplication, and simplify the development process to reach its goal of 377,000 new homes by 2029.

This Bill will introduce numerous reforms that will change the landscape of the states planning laws, battling practical delays that hold up the delivery of homes and job-creating projects and drive costs up.

What Are the Key Changes?

Among others, some of the key changes that have been introduced by the bill include:

1.Development Coordination Authority (DCA)

The DCA will simply act as the Secretary to the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure, providing a “single front door” to manage agency referrals such as water, environment, and fire services to centralise decision making and advice that is currently referred to multiple state agencies.

2.Targeted Assessment Pathway

To deal with the duplication of processes, the targeted assessment pathway will provide a fast-tracked process, bridging the gap between complying development and full development assessment. By streamlining this process, any unnecessary steps will be removed if those issues have already been addressed, reducing delays and freeing up council resources.

3.Housing Delivery Authority (HDA)

The HDA is now legislated under the EP&A Act, giving it the power to fast-track major housing projects worth more than $60 million.

4.Complying Development Applications

To accelerate approvals, the Bill plans to expand complying development which would see the issue of variation certificates for complying development certificates. A variation certificate would authorise the varying of a development standard, however, it must be a development standard that is identified as being able to be varied under the applicable environmental planning instrument.

When considering variation applications, councils would be given 10 days to approve small variations on a complying development application, otherwise they will be deemed approved.

5.Modification Application Pathways

Like the amendments made to complying development applications, the Bill also introduces a 14-day deadline for small modification requests to be decided, otherwise the application must not be refused. However, it is still possible for the consent authority to impose conditions if they don’t defeat the purpose of the application. Moreover, larger modification requests will be refused by the consent authority if they are not determined within 40 days after it is lodged.

6.Abolition of Regional Planning Panels

By abolishing regional planning panels, the Bill aims to simplify planning pathways by narrowing the assessment of projects either locally or as state-significant development.

Conclusion

This Bill is currently before Parliament, meaning there remains potential for change and progression of the Bill in the future. In the meantime, it is essential that developers familiarise themselves with the proposed changes and pathways to obtain easier development approvals.