Neighbours lose appeal rights in new laws to slash planning approval times

New flows for houses, duplexes, townhomes and low-density apartments will require no notice and will have no avenue for third-party objections.

In the third stream, which includes large projects such as high-rise apartment buildings, only directly affected people, such as neighbors, will be aware of the application and have the right to object.

“It’s common sense rights of appeal that ensure that people who live too far away from where the project is being built, where the house is being built, don’t have the opportunity to stop these projects, the homes that are being built,” Allan said.

The proposed laws would also remove parliament’s power to revoke any changes made to the planning program by the planning minister.

Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny said people who do not live close to the proposal should not be delayed in getting their new homes.

“We’re fixing a planning system that’s slowing things down,” he said.

Kilkenny said housing laws make it clear to councils that if a house is designed to a standard it is deemed to comply and must be approved.

The state government has been locked in an “anti-NIMBY” campaign to increase housing supply since September 2023, when it first announced plans to create activity hubs that make it easier to build high-density developments in key locations near railway stations.