MINISTER URGED TO REVOKE GOSFORD CITY COUNCIL'S PLANNING POWERS

Friday, 13 May 2005 10:00

Gosford City Council should be immediately stripped of its planning powers following a decision to axe its Environment Directorate the Total Environment Centre (TEC) has told NSW Planning Minister Mr Craig Knowles MP.

TEC Urban Campaigner Mr Leigh Martin said, "With no Environment Directorate to provide objective environmental advice, Council will not be able to meet its obligations under the Environmental Planning and Assessment and Local Government Acts. Minister Knowles should act immediately to strip Council of its planning powers and hand them to the Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources. This is particularly important with greater metro planning currently underway".

Both the Local Government and Environmental Planning and Assessment Acts require Councils to properly address environmental protection and ESD principles in their operations and decision making processes. At Tuesday night's meeting, however, a late Mayoral Minute was moved to restructure Council and abolish the Environment Directorate without any advertising or community consultation.

"The shabby, underhanded manner in which Gosford Council has made this decision shows that it cannot be trusted to deal with environmental concerns in an open and transparent way and is unfit to act as a planning consent authority", Mr Martin said.

The decision flies in the face of recommendations made by an independent management structure audit of Gosford Council by KPMG only four years ago to create a separate environment unit to remove conflicts of interest caused by having environmental matters considered within the development unit. There are now serious concerns that the major environmental pressures affecting the Central Coast will not be given adequate attention by Gosford Council.

"Gosford is a rapidly growing area with ever increasing pressure being placed on its environment and resources as more and more people settle in the area. The provision of high quality, independent environmental advice is crucial if Council is to make decisions that reflect the long term best interests of the Central Coast and its fragile environment. It appears, however, that Council is only interested in facilitating rapid developer profits at the expense of sound planning", Mr Martin said.
 

For further information

Contact
:
Leigh Martin - Urban Campaigner
Phone
:
61 2 9299 5599
Email
:
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:
http://www.tec.org.au/