The course of statutory planning system reform and fast-tracking development

Statutory planning systems in Australia have undergone significant reform in recent years. A key focal point of these reforms has been to streamline, simplify and progress the assessment and approval of building and other development projects. Generically referred to as fast-tracking, this element of the reform agenda is typically set within a discourse which uses terms, for example, of removing red tape and delay, and of promoting simplification and appropriate assessment of planning approvals. While considering the area of planning reform in Australia generally, emphasis in this article is placed on New South Wales. From a contextual case study analysis of statutory planning reform in New South Wales over the past two decades, the article seeks to demonstrate that there has been a paradigm shift in the nature and purpose of environmental planning which has been driving this reform process. Increasingly, reform of statutory planning systems is perceived by governments as essential for the stimulation of economic activity.