21 September 2010
Todays Total Environment Centre planning report is merely a demand that not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) groups be given even more power to block new housing and job-creating development, according to the Urban Taskforce. The report is detailed in todays Sydney Morning Herald (Public loses all faith with planning process, page 5).
The Urban Taskforces chief executive, Aaron Gadiel, said there is a big difference between a right to be consulted and a right to a veto.
The states planning laws, including the Part 3A provisions, already provide NIMBY groups very strong rights to be heard when development proposals are considered, Mr Gadiel said.
In fact, the government-funded Environmental Defenders Office, who was involved in the preparation of todays report, has recently blocked several Part 3A approvals through court action.
Decision-makers in the planning system are very generous to objectors and others who want to stop urban renewal and expansion.
The Part 3A process allows people to scrutinise detailed development plans and have their objections considered.
In relation to private sector urban development, objectors are able to seek a review of decisions in the courts when they feel the process has not been followed.
Mr Gadiel said there will always be some people who arent satisfied, no matter how hard a developer works to address their concerns.
Those that oppose development usually claim they were not adequately consulted, he said.
In truth, what they really mean is that they were consulted, but they did not agree with the final decision.
Mr Gadiel said the degree to which planning in NSW was already designed around the aspirations of NIMBY groups was evident in building statistics.
Until 2007, NSW was the nations number one state for building activity this shouldnt have been surprising given that its Australias largest state, he said.
However, in 2007, Victoria stole NSWs title.
Victoria has never looked back in the last financial year, for every dollar spent by builders in NSW, $1.20 was spent in Victoria.
While NSW accounts for 33 per cent of the population, it makes up just 24 per cent of Australias building activity.
Mr Gadiel said the lack of building activity carries high social costs.
In the last financial year, work started on 52,000 new Victorian private sector homes, while in NSW work only started on 26,000 homes, he said.
The housing undersupply is the main reason why rents in the inner suburbs of Sydney have been increasing at nine times the rate of inflation.
Rents for three bedroom homes in outer suburban Sydney have increased by 30 per cent in the last three years.
In fact, rents for three bedroom homes across NSW have been increasing by an average of 9 per cent a year over the last three years.
The Urban Taskforce is a property development industry group, representing Australias most prominent property developers and equity financiers.
