Member for Bega Dr Michael Holland and Paul Scully, Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, have announced that Bega Valley Shire Council and Eurobodalla Shire Council will each receive $25,000 to help pay the tuition fees of a new planner.
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A shortage of planners and resulting backlog of DAs is compounding the housing crisis.
Last month Bega Valley Shire Councillor Helen O'Neil said BVSC takes an average 140 days to approve a DA versus the state average of 110 days.
She said at that time there were 254 DAs outstanding in the shire and BVSC was actively working on 154.
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Shortage of planners to process DAs
Dr Holland said that local government tackles huge numbers of development applications each year.
"We know they've been crying out for planners," he said.
"Planners play an important role in our community, whether through assessing new developments or strategically planning for our future."
The grants are from the NSW government's Strong Start Cadetship Program and BVSC and ESC are two of 74 councils that shared in $1.85 million of funding aimed to give a strong start to the next generation of planners.
The program was launched in response to the planning skills shortage which is being particularly felt in regional NSW.
The grants provide council-employed students a free or discounted degree and practical work experience, while boosting council planner numbers.
Strong demand from councils
Mr Scully said it was only a month ago that they invited councils to apply for the program which had 64 grants available.
"After receiving a whopping 115 applications from 74 councils, we decided to boost the program with $250,000 in additional funding and provide $25,000 to each council that applied.
"This will help more councils invest in future planners to help address a workforce shortage and tackle the housing crisis across the state.
"This funding will bring a fresh wave of new planners to councils, giving them a helping hand to clear their development application backlogs and speed up assessment times, which will drive better outcomes for our communities," Mr Scully said.
The $25,000 grant can be used to fund tuition fees for an undergraduate certificate, graduate certificate, diploma, bachelor's degree of master's degree in planning.
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