Project summary

This project has provided a comparison of the revenue and costs for the delivery of planning and development services under the Development Act 1993 and the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016.

Overall, there has been an increase in the net costs for councils to provide these services to their communities. However, councils did not have an extensive history working with the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 and therefore, a finding was that the data can only be used as an indicator of the costs.

Outcomes

The final report for this project on the cost and benefits of implementing the Planning Development and Infrastructure Act 2016 is available to LGA member councils only.

The report provides an indication of the income and costs of providing planning and development services. It was noted that due to the limited time councils have had working under the new Act, this analysis was only able to provide an initial cost indication. The recommendation is that the analysis is carried out again in two years so councils have more time to work with the new Act.

Local Government Research and Development Scheme Outcomes

Communities understand the role and value of local government

The project provides an indicative net cost arising from the operation of the new Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act 2016. It compares the indicative net cost with the net costs from operating under the Development Act 1993. It allows councils and the community to understand the subsidy that ratepayers provide to deliver the statutory service.

Collaboration across the local government sector

About a third of South Australian councils participated in the project and provided the data for this analysis to occur. Two councils specifically worked on the development of the data collection template.

A clear return on investment from research and development

Although indicative costs only, the project findings will inform the Cost of Compliance Project. It is also recognised that there is value in conducting this analysis again in two years, once councils are more familiar with the time taken to deal with planning and development matters under the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Act.

Approved by the LGA Board of Directors on 19 May 2022