GRIFFITH'S new mayor will lead an overhaul of council's development application system in a bid to slash "ridiculous impediments" to the city's growth.
Council has been criticised by developers, home builders and business leaders for its complicated building certification processes over the past few years.
Mayor John Dal Broi said he had been approached by community members during his election campaign complaining about the difficulty of developing in Griffith compared to nearby shires.
"I want Griffith City Council to be able to say we're in the community to do business not to put silly, ridiculous impediments on development," Cr Dal Broi said.
"It is a major concern that other shires are known to be much more friendly, whether you're putting a DA (development application) in or dealing with them after you're established.
"It's no secret this is an area that's receiving a lot of complaints here in Griffith."
While the DA process itself has been heavily criticised, the overhaul will also target follow-up dealings with council.
"People are fed up with compliance officers just waltzing into the building and, if something doesn't comply, they're smacked with a $1500 or $3000 fine on the spot," Cr Dal Broi said.
"There's no saying, 'we'll give you a week to sort it out and then come back and have a look', it's just bang $3000."
One local developer has $90,000 in unpaid council compliance fines, while several others have received more than $10,000 of infringements.
Cr Dal Broi promised dozens of locals at a recent business breakfast he would push for significant changes to the system.
One of the guests, architect Steven Murray, was cautiously optimistic about the initiative.
"I'm happy to see something happening but we've heard this sort of thing before so, until I see it in writing, I'm not going to leap for joy," Mr Murray said.
"For people who want to develop, this would give them some surety, especially if there's a pre-determined policy set in stone."
Planningmatters principal Martin Ruggeri said the response from the industry so far had been "amazing".
"The idea that council is not going to be so harsh on development is a really good step in the right direction," Mr Ruggeri said.