An Australia-first AI platform is transforming the local government development application process.
Funded through a grant from the NSW Department of Planning and co-developed by Sydney-based business Adaptovate, the generative AI-powered Development Application Intelligence System – DAISY – is streamlining a laborious task, according to managing director David Gumley.
“There’s a lot of documentation that individuals need to find and understand. There’s a whole regulatory environment that applicants have to think about and, for your average punter, navigating that is difficult.”
As Gumley tells GN, there are also difficulties on the council side of the application process. “A council planner will often spend 75-80 per cent of their time going through those applications and finding it’s the wrong documentation.”
Furthermore, approximately one in five DAs in NSW require some form of post-approval modification or correction. This could involve adjusting minor errors, inaccuracies, or miscalculations. “The whole process is drawn out and takes a lot longer than it should do,” says Gumley.
Built on a platform developed by software firm Enterprise AI and backed by Microsoft’s cloud computing platform Azure, DAISY facilitates the development application process by “reducing admin effort and providing accurate and timely guidance,” says Gumley.
By having all the relevant information at its AI fingertips, DAISY “ensures that an application will comply so that council can assess and reach an approval stage a lot quicker,” says Gumley. “It accelerates and simplifies the end-to-end process.”
DAISY is currently being piloted by Wingecarribee Shire Council in the NSW Southern Highlands. It sits on the council’s website where residents can access 24/7 advice on planning regulations.
Wingecarribee’s general manager, Lisa Miscamble, says the tool is part of the council’s efforts to make it easier for the community to understand planning requirements and navigate the DA process. “DAISY helps demystify the early stages of residential development by providing tailored guidance in plain language.”
Wingecarribee is keen to point out that DAISY does not replace its planning team and final DA decisions remain with council.
Blacktown City Council in Western Sydney will be next to pilot the tool. Gumley says DAISY’s rollout will then proceed on a council-by-council basis. “Should they wish to apply this to their planning process, the tools are there, they’re ready to go and those are the conversations we’re now having with councils in NSW – and in other states as well,” he says.
Gumley tells GN the platform has been developed to assist residents with other council functions – including customer services such as payment processes. “We see the tool and its application across many workflows within council and broader governments,” he says. “There are endless core workflow processes that DAISY or its equivalent can support.”
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