The Newfoundland and Labrador Real Estate Association is applauding the creation of a new ministerial red tape reduction portfolio.

Lloyd Parrott has been named as the province’s minister responsible for red tape reduction.

Association President Bill Stirling says while the onus lies on all levels of government, he hopes the new office will work closely with municipalities to help speed up development permits.

“There may be something that can be done within the red tape reduction to help free up municipalities to be more responsive and more efficient in dealing with some of these applications.” said Stirling, “Every time there’s a zoning change within a municipality, that has to go to the province to be approved. And we’ve heard timelines of weeks, months, years for some of these zoning changes to be approved.”