Record of applications on the Planning Portal
The introduction of the Planning, Infrastructure and Development Act 2016 has brought with it a number of major changes to the way relevant authorities record development applications.
As we navigate the legislation through the Environment, Resources and Development Court we have been reminded of specific legislative obligations required to be complied with by all relevant authorities.
Relevantly, Regulation 120 of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure (General) Regulations 2017 sets out the record keeping requirements in relation to development applications which are recorded on the Planning Portal. Pursuant to Regulation 120(1)(l) if any decision on an application is the subject of an appeal, the result of the appeal proceedings must be recorded on the Planning Portal.
Recent proceedings before the ERD Court have raised a number of inconsistent practices by relevant authorities in uploading details of Court outcomes to the Planning Portal. Examples include relevant authorities:
- failing to update the Planning Portal to show that a matter has been the subject of an appeal;
- failing to show that an appeal has been resolved following that resolution; and
- failing to upload the minutes of order from the ERD Court in which planning consent has been granted, or alternatively erroneously preparing a new DNF to replace the minutes of order.
Module 15 of the PlanSA eLearning materials provides an instructional guideline for how to ensure appeal records are uploaded to the Planning Portal and can be accessed here. Once completed, the appeal status can be identified on the public development application register, ensuring that the public have access to the information that is required to be disclosed.
We recommend council planning staff review their development assessment practices and legislative obligations detailed under Regulation 120 to ensure consistent and correct records are uploaded to the Planning Portal.
For more specific information on any of the material contained in this article please contact Aden Miegel on 8217 1342 or email amiegel@normans.com.au or Alice Tonkin on 8217 1372 or email atonkin@normans.com.au.
