Cessnock Council goes live with NSW e-planning portal

Cessnock City Council has become the first council in NSW to have near-real-time integration with the state's new NSW Planning Portal via an API.

The council completed full systems integration with the portal in time for the 1 July deadline after testing it over the past 12 months.

The deployment was completed in collaboration with local software developer CIBIS, which was engaged in October last year as a consultant to develop the API-based middleware solution that supports the integration between the portal and the council's operating systems.

CIBIS worked with the council's core vendor Civica and the state Department of Planning and Environment on the project.

The integration currently includes the management of documents, lodgement and determination of applications. This will be extended to other portal functionality, such as certificates, when further APIs are made available.

Cessnock Council’s Business Support and Customer Relations Manager Roslyn Ashton said the new system will help the council modernise its operations.

“It will provide significant productivity savings for the council along with further improvements in application processing times,” she said.

CIBIS is now in the process of rolling out the solution to other councils using Civica’s Authority Enterprise Application.

“It’s one thing working through planning rules, regulations, determinations and compliance issues, but it’s another to ensure that the various IT systems work together including that from NSW Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE), local government systems and other private enterprise vendors,” CIBIS GM Tony Heitmeyer said.

Image credit: ©stock.adobe.com/au/tippapatt