When NSW Labor was swept from power 18 months ago, no issue symbolised the community’s frustration more than a notorious law known as Part 3A.
Part 3A gave the state government the power to remove decision-making on "significant" proposals from local councils and hand it to the minister, who could either make a decision or appoint an expert panels. Around NSW, community groups found that controversial developments were removed from their local councils……
Eventually, the NSW Minister for Planning Brad Hazzard appointed Tim Moore — an ex-minister for planning in a former Liberal government and former judge of the Land and Environment Court — and lawyer Ron Dyer to conduct a review.
Their review was expected to be the basis for a green paper, which was subsequently published in June. After a further consultation period, a white paper and draft legislation will be released later this year. When passed, this bill is expected to become the new planning legal framework, replacing the 1979 act, which was passed after the Green Ban period but has been constantly amended since.
The Moore/Dyer review found the key objective of planning reform should be to "provide an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable framework". But when the green paper appeared, this and many other recommendations had disappeared. Now the first objective was "economic development and competitiveness". The underlying philosophy was now pro-growth and pro-developer.
Community groups which had welcomed the solid consultation process of the review now found that the paper proposed less rights for community consultation than now exist. Under the new regime, communites would be engaged in forming broad regional plans, but once guidelines were in place they would not be consulted on developments in their local neighbourhoods.
Developers, on the other hand, could apply for rezonings, even if these did not fit with regional guidelines. If council decisions went against developers they could appeal to non-elected Regional Planning Boards that may include developer representatives. There would also be more opportunity in the new system for checking off proposals against a list of criteria, using certificates supplied by developer consultants. [New Matilda 19 October 2012]
Rapacious land developers and real estate agents are about to be given carte blanche by the O’Farrell Government and, it is hard to see the situation ending well for coastal communities in particular when this pivitol recommendation set out below is apparently being rejected.
The Hon Tim Moore and The Hon Ron Dyer (May 2012) Recommendations of the Independent Review of the NSW Planning System:
A new legislative framework
The reforms need to be set out in a new legislative framework – one founded on three new
Acts of Parliament:
• a Sustainable Planning Act – to establish the framework for a reformed
planning system
• a Planning Commission Act – to establish the composition, powers and functions of
an independent Planning Commission
• a Spatial Information Act – to facilitate a ‘whole of government’ approach to
the application of information technology to spatial data (and not confined to
planning information).
The principal new legislation – the Sustainable Planning Act – will contain the major
elements of the reformed framework. It will be in a plain English, narrative form. Technical
aspects will be in schedules to the Act or in regulations (separate ones for different topics).
Although foreshadowed in this Volume, the discussion of and detailed recommendations for the proposed Planning Commission Act and proposed Spatial Information Act will be set out in Volume 2.
The Sustainable Planning Act will have a single overarching object:
The object of this Act is to provide an ecologically, economically and socially sustainable
framework for land use planning and for development proposal assessment and
determination together with the necessary ancillary legislative provisions to support
this framework.
The Act is structured to set out the elements necessary for this broad object and to
provide more detailed objects relevant to the planning processes.
The current O’Farrell-Stoner-Hazzard plan encapsulated:
individuals and markets are best placed to deliver diverse choices, vibrant communities and strong and sustainable economies
It should be noted that at least one of the NSW National Party MPs representing the North Coast, Chris Gualptis, is a former land developer.
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