AN Industry Reference Group (IRG) will be established with an aim to improve Dungog Shire Council’s development application (DA) process.

The IRG concept was proposed by Mayor Digby Rayward in a Mayoral Minute at Council’s 20 November meeting.

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The inaugural meeting will occur in February 2025 and the group will meet twice yearly.

Mayor Rayward also brought a second Mayoral Minute to Council last week, again relating to the Shire’s DA process.

The new Mayor aims to improve customer service and communication between applicants and Council by providing greater access to planning staff during the pre-lodgement and assessment phase of the development process.

As part of this motion, Council have agreed to waive the DA pre-lodgement fee of $300 for a period of 12 months to encourage early consultation with staff in relation to application requirements.

Currently applicants have the option of paying the fee to meet with Council staff during the assessment phase of development applications.

“Thanks to this Mayoral Minute and endorsement by Council, the fee will be waived to encourage more applicants to come forward in the initial stages of lodgement, so that efficiencies in processing applications and greater customer satisfaction is achieved,” a Dungog Shire Council spokesperson said in a statement.

“A total of six pre-lodgement meetings have occurred since January 2024, so it’s hoped that with the fee waiver, a lot more applicants will choose to take up this service.”