The Western Australian Government believes the success of a new unit to speed up the approvals process for major resource and industrial projects will be reliant on the ability of proponents to provide comprehensive and timely information as required.
Industry figures have been complaining about unreasonable and expensive delays involved in getting major projects approved in Western Australia for a number of years now.
WA Business News highlighted the frustrations of the State’s mining industry with the approvals process last month following a boardroom lunch with a select group of miners.
The miner’s main concern was the long delays and complicated approvals process. They warned that without reform the system could affect the State’s ability to meet the booming global demand for resources.
A Review of the State’s Project Development Approvals System, known as the Keating Review, was conducted almost three years ago, however, only a handful of the 56 recommendations had been implemented.
State Development Minister Clive Brown said the establishment of the new Project Approvals Coordination Unit was a result of Keating review recommendations.
He said the establishment of the unit would go towards securing long-term economic and employment growth for WA by ensuring the State had the most efficient approvals system possible.
Mr Brown said new industrial and resource development project proponents would notice differences in Government arrangements.
He said a single point of contact for all proponents would now exist, with enhanced scoping of project developments and better mapping of project approval requirements.
A simple screening process would also be used to identify projects that would not need detailed scoping.
Mr Brown said this was a new process that would take “a little time to bed down” and would partly revolve around the ability of project proponents to provide comprehensive up-front assessment data and timely responses to queries raised in the process.
While the Chamber of Minerals and Energy welcomed the news, the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association remains guarded.
CME director of external relations David Parker said the chamber’s members had been concerned about the State’s approvals process.
He said the Chamber was a strong supporter of the Keating Review and emphasised how important it was to have a smooth approvals process particularly while the window to the global market was open.
APPEA director for WA and the Northern Territory Don Sanders welcomed the establishment of PACU but said the jury was still out on WA’s approvals process system.
“It will be quite some time before our members can be aware of the actual benefits expected from the new unit,” he said.
