Cockatoos a lightning rod

THE Urban Development Institute of Australia hopes the state government's funding of a study of Carnaby's black cockatoos is the first step towards a more streamlined planning and approvals process.

In a joint statement last week, Planning Minister John Day and Environment Minister Donna Farragher announced the government would allocate $360,000 to help protect the endangered cockatoo, and also provide greater certainty for developers through improved information on cockatoo habitat.

The project is part of the state's $3.5 million funding program for natural resource management schemes.

Mr Day said one of the project's objectives was to develop an information system to assist conservation and land-use planning while ensuring adequate appropriate habitat for the cockatoos in the Swan, Avon and South Coast regions.

UDIA chief executive (WA) Debra Goostrey said while this type of commitment was "critically important" for future developments, there was an immediate need for improved integration of the planning and environmental approvals process.

"The funding provides the research by which developers can then negotiate outcomes between the agencies involved," Ms Goostrey told WA Business News.

"But what we actually need is this research to underpin a more strategic approach to the assessment process, so we're not getting development by development assessment on Carnaby's cockatoos.

"We need a far more strategic approach that is better for the cockatoos, and better for the development industry.

"They need to go to that next step and actually have a coordinated approach to the environmental approvals process between the state and federal governments and it needs to be integrated with planning."