additions to their property with the passage of changes to planning regulations.

Senators passed the Development and Planning (General Development) Order 1999 allowing minor alterations like satellite dishes, solar energy panels, and small extensions to private homes without approval of the Development Applications Board.

"The purpose of this order is to specify and define certain classes of minor development that can be done without need to refer to the full DAB,'' Government Sen. Calvin Smith said as he introduced the order.

He added: "This is long overdue. This order also applies to the City of Hamilton, which wasn't the case in the original order of 1975.'' Sen. Smith also said the Order will allow the applications to be processed in 24 hours, rather than the current four to six weeks.

But Opposition Senators, while they approved of the changes, pointed out that with the DAB only meeting once a week, the applications could take anywhere from one day to three days to process.

Opposition Sen. Maxwell Burgess suggested Government monitor the amount of applications that go through the department to avoid a backlog in the future.