52 Community Groups tell Iemma Govt to fix planning

Tuesday, 28 August 2007 01:35

Over 50 community groups from around NSW have called on the state government to get back to the fundamentals of planning – community involvement and environment protection. 

Open letter
Advice from Environmental Defenders Office

Planning Minister, Frank Sartor recently announced a new round of changes in response to pressure from developers.  

In an open letter the groups said:

• Community involvement was now token or absent;
• Greater ministerial discretion led to a lack of legitimacy for decisions;
• Environmental assessment requirements had still not been released two years after the introduction of controversial fast track provisions;
• Measures to prevent pollution can be ignored;
• Management of catchments and native vegetation was being marginalised.

In commenting on the letter, Jeff Angel, Director of Total Environment Centre said: “There is a storm coming – the government continues to pander to the developer lobby, but there are a lot of people angry about the trampling on their rights to know and participate and quality environment protection.”

“The government needs to listen to the community.  Fix up the problems we have now and don’t repeat the same mistakes in the next round of reforms.”