Mayor of The Hills Shire, Councillor Greg Burnett, has announced that the housing approval process in The Hills Shire is set to be transformed by Council’s new online system for lodging building applications.
The new system, known as the Electronic Housing Code, was officially launched on Friday 28 October, by Minister Brad Hazzard at a new home site in Kellyville – the first home to be successfully approved online.
The Electronic Housing Code is an online system for the electronic lodgement of complying development applications under the NSW Housing Code for lots 200m2 and above.
Mayor Burnett said Council is delighted to offer customers a system that will give greater flexibility and dramatically improve their experience in dealing with Council.
“The Hills Shire Council was very happy to be part of this improvement project,” Mayor Burnett said.
“We are particularly proud to be the first Council to successfully process a Complying Development Certificate using the new system – achieving our first approval in just three days,” he said.
“Council continuously strives to improve customer service and embrace innovation, and this new online system aligns with these values.”
People can log onto Council’s website and use this system to investigate development options for an individual site, generate an exempt development report, prepare a complying development application electronically, lodge an application electronically and monitor the progress of an application.
The EHC was developed as a result of $4.3 million of Commonwealth funding through the Housing Affordability Fund (HAF), and is a partnership between the Department of Planning & Infrastructure and the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW.
Mayor Burnett said that Council was one of 11 local government areas involved in a pilot project of the new system.
 “This new online service extends the convenience of our existing one-stop-shop customer service centre to provide a 24 hour means of doing business in The Hills Shire,” Mayor Burnett said.