21 March 2011
Coalition responds to UTF’s 10 point plan
The NSW Liberals and Nationals have formally responded to the Urban Taskforce’s 10 point reform plan for urban affairs.
In their response the Liberals and Nationals have said that they will redesign the NSW planning system to support the state’s economy. They say that their “first priority for NSW is unashamedly restoring economic growth and establishing NSW as the first place in Australia to do business”.
They avoided giving a commitment to keep joint regional planning panels and instead said that the panels will be examined as part of their overall review of the State’s planning laws.
In response to our request that they reduce uncertainty by limiting the matters that can be considered in the development assessment process, the Liberals and the Nationals say they’re “keen to reduce uncertainty in the planning processes and will work with industry and local government to achieve that outcome”.
The Coalition parties say they “will ensure that land owners do not have their land resumed for on-sale and will work with the industry in regard to appropriate and deliverable compensation in the event of resumptions”.
In response to our request that a Coalition government reduce and reform state and council development levies the Liberals and Nationals advise us that they “will work with industry to reform the structure of development levies and ensure all Government Departments are required to meet transparency requirements”.
The Coalition’s full response is available here.
Barry O’Farrell clarifies his views on Part 3A and Centres policy
In a live 2GB radio interview, Barry O’Farrell has said that “local development” would be moved from the state to local councils, as part of the repeal of Part 3A. He conceded that developments such as the Sydney Fish Markets “may” still be dealt with by the state government.
In response to questions concerning the Centres Policy, Mr O’Farrelll said that he would “let local councils decide these things”.
You can hear the full interview (a debate between Kristina Keneally and Barry O’Farrell) by clicking here. You can see Labor’s interpretation of Mr O’Farrell’s comments here.
In a separate televised debate broadcast on Friday (which can be viewed from here) Mr O’Farrell was challenged by the Premier, Ms Keneally, as to what his attitude would have been to the Costco development in Auburn. He re-affirmed the importance of allowing local communities decide these things. When questioned, he confirmed that “local communities” means the same thing as “local councils” in the Coalition’s policy documents.
Review of planning laws
The NSW Coalition has released additional detail on its planned review of planning laws, should it be elected to government.
The Coalition observes that the planning system has “become dysfunctional”.
“The system does not provide the certainty that communities deserve and our economy needs,” they say.
“In recent years more and more approvals have been taken out of community view and decided by politicians – a recipe for collapse of public confidence in the system, and a blow to our reputation as a good place to invest.”
“The NSW Liberal & National Parties are committed to returning local planning powers to local communities … through their councils,” the Coalition says.
“We believe that local residents – through councils – are best placed to make local planning decisions affecting their suburbs.
“After all, it is local residents – not Macquarie Street planners – who have to live with the results of these planning decisions.
“We are concerned that Labor’s decisions will impose a greater number of dwellings on communities than was agreed between councils and the State Government under the Metropolitan Strategy,” the Coalition says.
The commitment to scrap Part 3A has been re-affirmed
The Coalition says their review of planning laws will:
- ensure the planning system “centres on merit and the public interest and re-empowers local communities”;
- create a system that “enjoys public support – with a state government that respects people”;
- create a system that is “modern, takes into account sustainability, gives certainty to investors and makes NSW competitive again, including a reserve power for genuinely state significant developments”; and
- give “certainty about planning rules and decision making processes that are made transparently and in a timely way”.
The review will be conducted by an independent expert panel, with the aim of enacting legislation “around” the middle of government’s first term (the first half of 2013).
More information is here.
The Coalition’s policy document (“Putting the Community Back into Planning”) is here.
Previous commitments re-affirmed
The Coalition has also re-affirmed some of its previously announced commitments.
“We are simply not producing the dwellings we need to house our growing population,” the Coalition says.
The NSW Liberals and Nationals say they will accelerate land release and help reduce costs of home ownership by:
- publishing annual “real time” new dwelling targets for Sydney, the Hunter and Illawarra;
- ensuring communities have the facts they are entitled to and are involved in local planning decision-making;
- promoting growth in the regions and encouraging decentralisation; and
- applying transparency to state infrastructure levies and introducing the option of contestability in the provision of infrastructure.
More detail on this aspect of Coalition policy is here.
Shadow Planning Minister Brad Hazzard has publicly re-affirmed that Part 3A applications that have been accepted and are still pending will not be stripped of their Part 3A status. See his comments here.
