ALBURY Council will carry out a review of the contentious changes made to the processing of development applications earlier this year.
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Cr David Thurley won unanimous support to undertake the review from other councillors on Monday night.
The report will include the type and number of applications referred to council in this time.
Processing times, additional workload demand and recommendations for improvements will also be canvassed as part of the review which had always been flagged.
Cr Thurley said changes would be judged as a success, but in some areas there had been an over-reach.
“I believe our intentions in February and March were good intentions and councillors should have a bigger say in development applications in this city,” he said.
“We can fine tune this and still achieve the intention.
“But we can still streamline the process and not have insignificant and minor applications come to council.”
Previously the only development applications to come before council were those to generate high community interest.
Mayor Kevin Mack acknowledged the extra workload placed on staff.
“The planning team has worked really hard to reduce the turnaround on our DA’s in the last three months,” he said.
“It is a credit to our staff.”
There was an initial blowout in the processing time against council’s own targets with the average time ranging between 35 and 43 days in the March quarter.
Applications sparking major community feedback including the Star Hotel redevelopment and the Thurgoona service station, fast food development also contributed to extra time taken.