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Mr Hinchliffe said the Smart eDA initiative-developed by the State Government, in consultation with the Local Government Association of Queensland, councils and industry stakeholders-would streamline and speed up the development assessment system.

Mr Hinchliffe said the State Government was rolling out the Smart eDA system to councils across the state and Cairns was the eleventh council to go live," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"My department has been working closely with the council to train its staff in recent weeks and inform local planners about the system's efficiencies," Mr Hinchliffe said.

"Smart eDA transforms the existing paper-based development assessment system into an intuitive and interactive internet-based system.

"This provides Queensland with a more efficient, transparent and consistent development assessment process that will reduce costs.

"Cairns council officers can also expect to make time savings. There is no need to laboriously scan paper copies of applications and electronic lodgement means applications can be forwarded instantly to internal staff for assessment.

"Over time, this will reduce the number of requests for additional information so council staff can be assessing and deciding applications in a more timely manner."

Member for Cairns Desley Boyle said Smart eDA would help guide people through the process and give Queenslanders better access to planning information.

"This new system will be better for every body," she said.

"It will be better for developers as well as individuals who have smaller projects, and it will be better for council planning staff.

"This is good news for the people of Cairns."

Mr Hinchliffe said Cairns followed other high-growth local governments such as Redland, Bundaberg, Whitsunday and Mackay in switching to the cutting-edge Smart eDA system."

For more information on the Smart eDA system, visit www.dip.qld.gov.au.

Media contact: 3224 8750

Source: Minister for Infrastructure and Planning, The Honourable Stirling Hinchliffe