Tamworth Regional Council takes 47 days to tick off development applications, above state-wide benchmark

On average it's taken 47 days for applications to get the tick of approval from Tamworth Regional Council, seven days above the state's standard.

But it hasn't always been like this.

In the previous financial year council managed to keep processing times at an average of 37 days.

Council's manager of development Sam Lobsey, said the waiting time blowout during the last 12 months was due to complex applications and chronic staff shortages.

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"We are down staff members and having a real difficulty trying to recruit," he said.

"We're thinking about new ways of managing our teams and staffing and having to try and adapt to the situation.

"It's a real issue for us."

The shortages come as council recorded one of its highest values of development approvals, with industrial and commercial projects totalling $183 million.

While the industrial developments are helping to bring in big dollars, Mr Lobsey said the complex applications take longer to process.

"There's a lot of back and forth, particularly when we don't have all the information submitted to us at the time of lodgement," he said.

"We are regularly calling on industry to meet with us and have a pre-lodgement meeting to make sure the expectations of council are understood."

Council has been working with external consultants and the state departments Regional Housing Flying Squad to outsource application processing.

Mr Lobsey said the flying squad had been handling the residential applications, which take up the bulk of submissions made to council.

"It's helping us plug the gap in terms of the work that is in front of us right now," he said.

"I don't feel that it's the solution though."

Mr Lobsey said the downside of outsourcing was consultants can't meet with developers on site and have face-to-face consultation.

"We should be doing whatever we can to try and get those technical officers, those experienced and qualified people into Tamworth," he said.

"That's what we should always be trying to encourage."

While the outsourcing and regional housing program fail to achieve that, Mr Lobsey said he welcomed the help as a "short term solution".

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