13 May 2010
The NSW Minister for Planning, Tony Kelly has given Cessnock City Council 21 days to show why it should not be stripped of its planning powers and an independent planning panel appointed.
“My concerns relate to extensive delays in preparing a new council-wide local environmental plan (LEP), the time taken to progress important land releases and the inefficiency of Council’s development assessment process,” Mr Kelly said.
“The Cessnock local government area is set to accommodate 19,700 new dwellings by 2031, but rather than moving to efficiently meet the area’s needs, Council has run into a host of lengthy delays in preparing its new comprehensive LEP.
“The recent land releases that have actually been finalised have taken, on average, three to four years to complete.
“This is clearly unacceptable.
“On top of that, I have also received numerous complaints regarding the tardy and often inconsistent nature of Council’s DA processing.”
The Minister’s media release is here.
