The implementation of South Australia’s new planning and development system across large regional towns and metropolitan areas has been delayed until late December.
Minister for Planning and Local Government Vickie Chapman said the final phase of the launch had been set down for September, but would be postponed to give stakeholders more time to understand the Planning and Design Code and familiarise themselves with the new ePlanning system.
“Over recent months, we have been listening closely to councils, industry and the wider community, who have all urged us to move the final phase of implementation to next year,” Ms Chapman said this week.
“Over 90 per cent of development applications are lodged in the metropolitan area, so we need to take the necessary time and continue to collaborate with stakeholders and work with councils who are integral to the program’s success,” she said.
“At this stage of the process, it would be irresponsible for us to proceed and ignore the insight and feedback that we have received from councils and the broader community.”
Since 31 July 2020, the new planning system – PlanSA – has applied across outback and rural areas, replacing hard-copy council development plans and the manual processing of development applications.
To date, 160 development applications have been successfully electronically submitted into the system.