TWEED Shire Council planning staff have found a way to fast track hundreds of millions of dollars in proposed developments after earlier this year saying they were too busy to handle the applications.

A report from the planning department to be considered by councillors next week asks them to approve the use of external consultants to assess million-dollar plans for extending Tweed City and Club Banora. They say the two organisations have agreed to pay the costs of the consultants.

The report says Tweed City Shopping Centre and Club Banora "have indicated their willingness to fund the planning proposals through a cost and expenses agreement".

Plans for expanding Tweed City were put before the council in July but staff said they could not immediately deal with the application due to "resource commitments".

The Club Banora proposal had been the subject of several meetings between the club and council staff since late 2009 but because of similar "resourcing limitations" had stalled.

The report before councillors states that:

"Both requests are suitable candidates for utilising the external resourcing."

It says the Dexus Property Group, which manages the Tweed City Shopping Centre, "has acquired several adjoining properties with the view to expanding the services of the centre to match the demand of the growing population".