Get heard on pre-lodgements
In a move commended by the Institute, City of Gold Coast has contacted us asking for member feedback on the pre-lodgement process.
Key points:
- More pre-lodgement feedback sought
- Important communication opportunity between developers and council
In a move commended by the Institute, City of Gold Coast has contacted us asking for member feedback on the pre-lodgement process.
The Institute regularly calls for members to inform us of concerns on the varying local challenges for the industry. We previously asked you to provide feedback on council’s pre-lodgement process, and you responded. A common concern you noted is council’s strict approach to the City Plan and the application of performance-based outcomes. You also raised concern over council’s strong attachment to the rigidity of the assessment benchmarks.
Other items raised include:
- Inability to have robust discussions during the meeting for proposed developments
- Ability or opportunity to correct or edit the pre-lodgement minutes prior to them being distributed
- Potential confusion in the attendance and role of technical council staff in pre-lodgement meetings
- Inconsistency between items discussed in the pre-lodgement and what is applied in the Development Assessment phase.
The Institute notes the important role that pre-lodgement services play in the development cycle. It presents the opportunity to identify any early warning signs and flesh out issues with projects.
For local governments, it is a valuable resource to inform applicants on the key issues upfront, present design ideas, and potentially reduce assessment input in development applications.
The Institute will be seeking more feedback from members in the region. Please provide your examples and comments to Policy Executive, Robert Tily (rtily@udiaqld.com.au) on (07) 3229 1589 for a branch wide submission on better prelodgement outcomes.