The Government of Western Australia has announced the State Development Assessment Unit (SDAU) will be reopened to December 2023.
The SDAU is a rigorous process that provides opportunity for public comment on proposed projects along with allowing relevant agencies to appropriately consider projects. At the same time the process also has the ability to take in the broader economic, social and environmental benefits that can be delivered for the State by a particular project.
Property Council WA executive director Sandra Brewer said the high number of SDAU applications from hospitals to housing, recreation to retail and sophisticated mixed-use developments, demonstrates a clear opportunity to provide a dedicated planning pathway for projects that will deliver long term benefits for the WA community.
“The creation of the SDAU process has proven to be a sage decision, providing the industry with an opportunity to present development proposals that offered significant community value by providing a pathway for developments which do not fit neatly into the standard planning framework, or in many cases, outdated planning frameworks.”
Brewer said the specialist planning unit, created initially to drive investment and construction activity through the uncertainty of the pandemic, had delivered above expectation and highlighted the need for a pathway to consider projects which offer unique urban renewal opportunities in key activity centres across Perth.
UDIA WA CEO Tanya Steinbeck agreed the SDAU has performed a critical purpose since its inception in the early stages of the state’s Covid response.
“Given the delays that have been experienced it is imperative that developers are able to see projects that have been in the pipeline able to come to fruition utilising this pathway,” Ms Steinbeck said.
Brewer added: “The SDAU has many benefits, the most valuable process change has been the active management of referral agencies by the SDAU.
“Decisions are made by the WA Planning Commission, which brings together the leaders of Departments responsible for infrastructure, including water, roads and the environment.
“This has been a breakthrough in the way complex, large scale projects are assessed.
“Referral delays and red tape are extremely costly.
The Property Council has estimated that if costs incurred by the state’s property industry were to represent just 1 per cent of the value of building permits in the first six months of 2021, they would exceed $80 million.