Council
1 May, 2026
Mayor hits back over Minister’s comments
Wingecarribee Shire Council’s relationship with NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully has taken an ugly turn
Wingecarribee Shire Council’s relationship with NSW Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully has taken an ugly turn with Mayor Jesse Fitzpatrick accusing the Minister of making ‘misleading’ claims over council’s performance on DA processing times.
Mayor Fitzpatrick described the Minister’s comments on radio earlier this week as “disappointing” and also accused him of sending council “conflicting and inconsistent messages” on its efforts to improve DA processing times.
As reported by The Southern Wire, Mr Scully told Graeme Day on Radio 2ST earlier this week that his own personal frustration with council must “pale into insignificance” when compared to the frustration felt by homeowners, potential homeowners, renters and tradespeople.
He said council’s DA processing times were creating “real world problems that can’t be ignored” and suggested the community start asking “really hard questions” of council’s leadership.
Mr Scully also said “you can’t pretend that there’s not an issue that has to be dealt with here” when Wingecarribee Shire Council was consistently one of the worst performers in the state on DA processing times.
However, Mayor Fitzpatrick said the Minister’s own Council League Table indicated the council had made “significant process” in reducing its DA backlog and DA processing times.
“Unfortunately the narrative of some media outlets has not changed nor recognised the current state,” he said.
He suggested that residents take a look at the table themselves, citing March 2026 data showing that 77 per cent of DAs had been determined within the Minister’s expected timeframe and that the average number of days to determine DAs was council’s lowest ever at 115 days – only 10 days short of the Minister’s expected timeframe of 105 days.
However for the financial year to date council still has the slowest average assessment time with 181 days for 414 assessments.
Only 26 per cent of applications for the year to date have been meeting expectations compared to the state average of 60 per cent.
That means council is unlikely to reach its new goal – set at the October 2025 meeting – of exceeding the NSW average by September this year.
Mayor Fitzpatrick said the Minister had written to him in March acknowledging the “strong progress” being made to reduce the number of undetermined development applications and to shorten average assessment timeframes.
He said the Minister had also noted the council was investing through its Development Assessment Action Plan.
The Mayor also said a senior officer at the Department of Planning, Housing and Infrastructure had written to council in March congratulating them on their February results and asking what the improvement could be attributed to “so we can raise council’s good work”.
Mayor Fitzpatrick said it had been nine months since the Minister’s expert planner had visited council but they were yet to receive a final report or action plan – suggesting any improvement had been the result of council’s own efforts and not because of any assistance from the NSW Government.
“Council acknowledges that there have been delays in DAs and we have never shied away from that,” the Mayor said.
“We have been transparent with our community and are actively implementing reforms including additional resourcing and process improvements.
“To suggest council leadership is ignoring the issue is simply incorrect.
“Councillors, the General Manager and staff have been focused on improving timeframes while ensuring DAs are properly assessed and meet legislative requirements.
“Council remains committed to balancing the urgent need for housing and jobs with responsible planning outcomes.
“We want to see more homes delivered, real progress is being made and we will continue working constructively with the NSW Government to deliver further improvements,” the Mayor said.
Mayor Fitzpatrick was interviewed on ABC Illawarra yesterday (Thursday) and suggested that Mr Scully had been “led down the garden path” by the 2ST "presenter" as part of a “political attack”.
He said council had terrific staff doing a tremendous job and the commentary was not only “upside down” but “unfair” because it filtered down through to them.
--------------
The Southern Wire Newsletter is now here! Subscribe for free at the link below.
https://subscribe-forms.beehiiv.com/1986abc6-c89e-4781-9db2-cf35c9dd71e4
If you value independent local journalism across the Highlands, Tablelands and Wollondilly, please click the link below to support us as we are paywall free.
Read More: Southern Highlands