Joint Development Assessment Panel

Development Assessment Panels (DAPs) have operated in Western Australia since 2011 and are intended to enhance planning expertise in decision making by improving the balance between technical advice and local knowledge.

There are five panels covering the State. Each panel consists of five members comprising three specialist members and two local government councillors. Members are appointed by the Minister for Planning and a pool of additional members are available to substitute if required. 

The role of panels is to determine development applications of a certain type and value threshold through consistent, accountable and professional decision-making.

Operating under Development Assessment Panel Regulations, each panel determines development applications as if it were the responsible planning authority against the relevant local or region planning scheme.

DAP Regulations state that applications considered by a panel cannot be determined by local government or the Western Australian Planning Commission (WAPC).

There are two different types of DAPs:

Local Development Assessment Panels (LDAPs)	Joint Development Assessment Panels (JDAPs)
An LDAP only has one local government within its boundary area. An LDAP is established to service a single local government, where it is deemed to be a high-growth local government, with enough development to support its own panel. There is currently only one LDAP which is for the City of Perth.	JDAPs service two or more local governments. There are currently four JDAPs in Western Australia. The Shire of Gingin is a member of the Mid-West/Wheatbelt Joint Development Assessment Panel (JDAP).

Minutes of Mid-West/Wheatbelt JDAP meetings

Enquiries

Contact the Shire's Planning Services department on (08) 9575 5100, option 5.