Former planning minister Frank Sartor's one-size-fits-all approach to housing design has been serially rejected by builders and councils across New South Wales.
The state government had hoped that half of all new houses would use its design templates, which were touted as potentially speeding up the approval process. But only 11 per cent of builders used the blueprints, forcing the government to soften its policy and allow for more regional design variation.
Eleven councils participated in a trial of the single-storey house design, but many dubbed the codes a one-size-fits-all approach to design.
“We did not have the take-up of complying development that we had hoped for,” new planning minister Kristina Keneally told a parliamentary inquiry into the planning budget.
“Various regions are saying to us, ‘we think in our area we can improve upon the code to make it even more acceptable to our community’,” Keneally said.
Councils involved in the trial included Willoughby, Pittwater, Canada Bay, Penrith and Blacktown, among others.
