Those who regularly deal with the City of Ballarat on planning issues are used to the slow-moving process.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The state government has now shown the council is 17 days slower, on average, than similar councils.
On its new website Know Your Council, the City of Ballarat is also listed as dealing with 53 per cent of applications within the 60 days time-frame.
Mayor Des Hudson said they were thorough in their approach and that meant applications took longer to be processed.
“The best way would be to streamline applications, but we’re dealing with...complex issues where we are trying to deliver those bigger projects,” he said.
“A rushed decision will be not be in the best interests of anyone and we have to avoid causing auto triggers for VCAT (appeals).”
Developer Steve Graovac, who took council to VCAT last year for going over the 60 days, said they had definitely improved with officers now hashing out planning problems on the spot.
“In the last 12-18 months, they’ve become a hell of a lot better,” he said.
