WALGA is seeking Local Government comment on a revised advocacy position that updates and expands on the Development Assessment Panels (DAPs) advocacy position to include all State Government development assessments and approvals, including the significant development pathway.
Council endorsed or CEO approved comment is preferred.
The current DAP advocacy position, endorsed in May 2022, requires updating to take account of recent planning reforms that replaced the proposed special matters DAP with the permanent significant development pathway (Part 11B).
WALGA has opposed DAPs since their inception in 2011 and has undertaken two previous reviews of the performance of the DAP system in 2016 and DAP 2020. These reviews have informed WALGA's current advocacy position that recommends several changes to the DAP system to ensure it operates in an efficient, effective, and transparent way, and appropriately considers matters of local planning context in decision making.
WALGA has undertaken a data collection and analysis of both the DAP system and the significant development pathway to inform the review of the DAP position and its ongoing advocacy.
The DAP Report examines DAP data from its inception in 2011 to the end of the 2023-24 financial year and specifically focuses on observable trends since the previous report in 2020. The report indicates minor improvements in the DAP system, particularly in reliability and consistent decision-making. Despite this, the DAP system continues to determine many low-value applications that lack strategic importance and should be redirected to the Local Government pathway.
The Significant Development Pathway Report examines data from the pathway’s inception in 2020 until 1 April 2025. The report finds that this pathway is used infrequently and does not process applications efficiently, contrary to its intended purpose and that the pathway's other goals, driving economic recovery (Part 17) and aiding housing supply (Part 11B), have also not been met.
WALGA has drafted a revised advocacy position that will sit within the context of WALGA’s Planning Principles and Reform advocacy position and will expand on the DAP position to include:
• all State Government development assessments and approvals (e.g. significant development pathway, DAPs, Public Works, region scheme approvals, Development WA)
• incorporates principles for state decision-making applications
• a refined list of the reforms to the DAP system in the context of the 2024 DAP amendments, the latest DAP Report and anecdotal feedback from the sector
• a recommendation that the significant development pathway is abolished based on the findings of the significant development pathway report yet includes a list of reforms if the pathway is to be retained.
Please submit comments and feedback by Friday, 23 May 2025
Email: [email protected]
Read the revised draft advocacy position.
Council endorsed or CEO approved comment is preferred.
The current DAP advocacy position, endorsed in May 2022, requires updating to take account of recent planning reforms that replaced the proposed special matters DAP with the permanent significant development pathway (Part 11B).
WALGA has opposed DAPs since their inception in 2011 and has undertaken two previous reviews of the performance of the DAP system in 2016 and DAP 2020. These reviews have informed WALGA's current advocacy position that recommends several changes to the DAP system to ensure it operates in an efficient, effective, and transparent way, and appropriately considers matters of local planning context in decision making.
WALGA has undertaken a data collection and analysis of both the DAP system and the significant development pathway to inform the review of the DAP position and its ongoing advocacy.
The DAP Report examines DAP data from its inception in 2011 to the end of the 2023-24 financial year and specifically focuses on observable trends since the previous report in 2020. The report indicates minor improvements in the DAP system, particularly in reliability and consistent decision-making. Despite this, the DAP system continues to determine many low-value applications that lack strategic importance and should be redirected to the Local Government pathway.
The Significant Development Pathway Report examines data from the pathway’s inception in 2020 until 1 April 2025. The report finds that this pathway is used infrequently and does not process applications efficiently, contrary to its intended purpose and that the pathway's other goals, driving economic recovery (Part 17) and aiding housing supply (Part 11B), have also not been met.
WALGA has drafted a revised advocacy position that will sit within the context of WALGA’s Planning Principles and Reform advocacy position and will expand on the DAP position to include:
• all State Government development assessments and approvals (e.g. significant development pathway, DAPs, Public Works, region scheme approvals, Development WA)
• incorporates principles for state decision-making applications
• a refined list of the reforms to the DAP system in the context of the 2024 DAP amendments, the latest DAP Report and anecdotal feedback from the sector
• a recommendation that the significant development pathway is abolished based on the findings of the significant development pathway report yet includes a list of reforms if the pathway is to be retained.
Please submit comments and feedback by Friday, 23 May 2025
Email: [email protected]
Read the revised draft advocacy position.
