After considerable work throughout 2025 and 2026 the city has now established benchmark timelines for many of the internal city processes and reviews within the development application process. The focus of this work to date has been on building and engineering permits with planning processes in development and expected to be completed in 2027.  With the launch of the online portal for many permit types the systems are now in place to track the time at each stage of the process from inception to occupancy for new buildings and development permits.  This has led to more certainty and transparency for service users so that they can track their application as it moves through the steps in the portal.  Online payments and guardrails within the permit portal also reduce wait times where applications may be incomplete or sit waiting for more information from the applicant.  The new benchmarking system is critical to continuously improve the development services area and work to date has already proven very impactful such as a 75% average reduction in processing time for new home construction permits.