Cities of Perth and Vincent notice little difference since JDAP changes introduced

CITY of Perth council has introduced minor reforms to match changes to the Joint Development Approvals Panel (JDAP) process, while the City of Vincent said its existing systems accommodated the changes.

The previous state government gazetted changes to provide for more notice given for JDAP meetings and for decisions to be more clearly communicated to the last year, and the changes came into effect on February 1.

Then Minister Donna Faragher said the changes would ensure the JDAP system “remains flexible and responsive to community expectations while continuing to provide the best possible planning outcomes for Western Australia”.

At the time, the Ms Faragher said the time gap between the gazetting of the changes and them taking effect was to allow local governments time to adjust.

City of Perth now provides JDAP with all relevant information two days prior to the set public advertising period for meetings, which has expanded from five to seven days.

Vincent chief executive Len Kosova said while one change provided an option to opt-out of a JDAP in favour of a local government hearing for developments that would not significantly impact local amenity, or for requests for minor changes to an existing approval, the City had not received any eligible applications that had opted-out of the JDAP process.

Mr Kosova said the JDAP change requiring local governments to contact each person who provided a written to inform them of meeting times had not changed Vincent’s processes, since the City already contacted submitters to advise when the application was being presented to the JDAP.

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