Business News
Environmental offsets have become increasingly difficult for property developers.
Darren Walsh was echoing the sentiment of the state’s property industry when he said environmental offsets were becoming the most difficult part of the approvals process.
The state’s Environmental Protection Authority chair was speaking at a recent Urban Development Institute of WA panel event of government officials.
“We went through a period ten or so years ago, what I’d almost call the golden era of offsets where, particularly for the housing sector, it was fairly simple,” Mr Walsh said.
Environmental offsets are measures taken by developers to mitigate the unavoidable environmental impacts of projects.
UDIA WA chief executive Tanya Steinbeck said the industry was calling for a more strategic approach to offsets rather than the current project-by-project approach.
“Overall, environmental offsets are one aspect of a complex environmental approvals process that often delays the delivery of much-needed housing to the market and does not necessarily lead to optimal environmental outcomes,” she said.
To read the article in full, including further comments from Tanya Steinbeck and Darren Walsh, visit Business News.