Premier Chris Minns at the Bradfield Oration 2023 has admitted he is on the hook to solve the housing crisis and has put his planning colleagues on notice to deliver.

Minns declared he will adopt a new approach to monitoring the performance of councils and the Department of Planning when it comes to assessing and approving the housing NSW desperately needs.

Comments were made that planners and assessment staff must consider the importance of new housing supply for young families and newly arrived immigrants, rather than just the views expressed by local objectors.

Much of the data being produced by the Planning Department is unclear in that it does not distinguish between the time taken to approve multi-level mixed-use developments from that of a driveway. Minns declared the system needs a measuring tool that is precise and can hone-in on the relevant data so we can identify where delays are. In turn, this will allow the NSW Government to reward those councils that are well-performing and take direct action against those that continue to pander to NIMBY interests. The Premier’s commitment to publish a league table comparing the planning performance of each council and the Planning Department with the performance of other States is a welcomed fresh approach.

The last time we had an interstate comparison of planning performance in 2020 (the Mecone Report commissioned by NSW Treasury), the previous government did not allow that analysis to be published. This sends a strong message to public servants that the NSW Government is genuine about delivering on NSW’s target of 376,000 homes in 5 years.

The Premier also announced that design competitions for high-rise buildings will no longer be necessary provided the developer selects an architect from a pre-approved list. This will reduce planning assessment timeframes by at least 12 months. Minns also unveiled an international design competition – similar to the one which delivered the Opera House – to find the perfect Sydney terrace and unit block. The winning design would be included in a pattern book of endorsed designs to be fast-tracked through the planning system. Buildings with endorsed designs will be deemed a complying development and will benefit from an accelerated approval pathway.

We await eagerly for the relevant planning polices to be introduced to Parliament. But Minns is clearly responding to a challenge to be as bold as John Bradfield – the engineer who built a 10-lane Harbour Bridge when the motor car was in its infancy, future-proofing the city of Sydney.