New Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane is calling on the NSW Government to come clean about the Planning Department’s independent review of all developments that have been approved through the Housing Delivery Authority.

Sloane belives the review of the HDA needs to be made public in the interests of community confidence in the planning system.

The HDA's powers are under the microscope in Kiama with Council set to effectively be sidelined from the approval process by developers if projects are declared a State Significant Development.

There have been 583 expressions of interest assessed by the HDA since its first meeting in February.

Sloane said revelations that a senior planning official used an unauthorised AI tool to collate information before the HDA brings into question the veracity of the information presented to the HDA’s three-person panel.

NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said that the community deserves the highest integrity in their planning system and Minister Paul Scully needs to make this review public to restore community confidence.

“The Minns Labor Government needs to ensure community confidence in our planning system by making the independent review public and publishing the terms of reference of the review,” Sloane said.

“The Housing Delivery Authority was established by the Government to offer a streamlined assessment process, but as part of that pathway the Government needs to ensure the highest integrity and transparency to support the decisions that are being made."

Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow said this was not the first instance of error from the HDA.

“Since its inception we’ve seen the HDA approve proposals over land that wasn’t controlled by the applicant, misdescribe locations and the approved height of applications,” Farlow said.

“This is clear evidence that while the HDA has dealt with nearly 600 expressions of interest, they haven’t been provided with the resources to do their job properly.

“While AI tools have an important role to play in the planning system, there needs to be a thorough validation of the inputs into the system and the determinations that are being made and that requires a proper approval process within the Department and should include a public disclosure of the tools being used to give community confidence in the planning system."

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