29 September 2011
Planning Minister, Brad Hazzard, has confirmed that the housing target for Ku-ring-gai will be 10,000 new dwellings under the Sydney Metropolitan Plan. Mr Hazzard has also confirmed that the Council will lead the review of town centre planning and eventual reinstatement of a town centre local environmental plan.
On 20 September, Kur-ing-gai Council declined to adopt a timetable for finalising the new local environmental plan for the town centres (council officers had proposed a preliminary draft LEP before the Council by end of December 2011 and an official exhibition of the plan early in 2012). Instead the council unanimously agreed to meet with the key community groups involved in the recent court decision to discuss the process and timetable.
The council has also decided to carry out an audit of dwellings approved in Ku-ring-gai to determine the dwelling gap, if any, against the dwelling target of 10,000 and a further meeting is to take place with Mr Hazzard. They will also be asking the government for information on the nature and extent of financial and staff resources that would be available to Council in the completion of its town centre planning. Presumably this is a reference to a desire for government funding. The details of the councils decision are here.
Separately community groups in Ku-ring-gai are seeking a meeting with the Minster for Planning and Infrastructure so that they can express their position on local planning issues. Apparently, the community group – Friends of Turramarra would like a briefing from the Minister and Department of Planning and Infrastructure staff on the future of planning for Ku-ring-gai and not rely on the advice being provided by Ku-ring-gai Council staff. Details are here.
