Planning Act Inquiry Essential

Monday, 05 May 2008 23:23

The legislation was introduced at the request of the development industry with a discussion paper released over Christmas and the current exposure bill had only three weeks for comment. 

“It’s been a complete sham. Public and community organisations were unable to examine and discuss the complicated proposal and its supporting documentation in any detail”, said Jeff Angel, Executive Director of Total Environment Centre.

“More seriously is that many crucial details are to be included in regulations rather than the Bill itself, and these regulations have not been made public and so have escaped any level of debate or consultation.”

The groups are also opposing giving the Minister the power to rule that no consultation is required at the gateway stage of so called “minor” local plans. This is a recipe for underhand zoning changes.

“Furthermore, the proposed changes are a huge blow to the environment. The draft Bill will allow complying development in environmentally sensitive areas which are currently protected. This should not be allowed to happen. Sensitive areas should be subject to proper environmental assessment and development consent,” stated Mr. Angel.

“The Bill contains no provisions that advance environmentally sustainability or improve the quality of environmental assessment. In fact, many environmental protection provisions currently present will be weakened by these proposed changes. The government is acting without regard for the public interest and should instead be improving the environmental sustainability results of the NSW planning system,” said Mr. Angel.

To download the environment groups letter to politicians click here [PDF 47Kb].