By Adam Coleman

The NSW Government has dismissed calls from the Local Government and Shires Associations of NSW (LGSA) for an independent planning commission to make recommendations on major developments, suggesting it would more than double the number of DAs determined by the State..

Currently the Minister for Planning, Frank Sartor, can take control of a residential, retail or construction project with a capital investment of more than $50 million if he believes it of state or regional significance.

“Amendments to our planning laws have resulted in a loss of planning powers among councils, and has promoted a perception of, and increased the potential for, undue influence and corruption in the development process,” says LGSA president, Cr Genia McCaffery.

Mr Sartor says the Association's proposals fail to address the need to improve efficiency across the planning system and boost the quality of development outcomes.

“This appears to be a petty power play by councils that ignores the real issues,” he said in a statement.

The LGSA proposal would create more red tape and add another layer of bureaucracy by duplicating the assessment functions of the Department of Planning, he said.

He argues that there is already scope to bring in independent experts and local representatives to look at complex problems in detail and hold public hearings.

The LGSA has expressed concerns over how 'independent' those experts would be.

“We have said this continually and he clearly doesn’t agree with it. It is bad law to give any capacity to an elected person to just make decisions at their own discretion with no guideline, no principals and no controls,” Cr McCaffery says.
“We don’t believe any minister should be given that kind of unbridled power. The whole point of the Independent Planning Commission was to provide some checks and balances on the decision making process. We stand by our position.”

[Fri 02/02/2007 03:20:17]

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