11 September 2013
The statement from Local Government NSW that the planning reforms favours developers at the expense of the community is code for the fact that they are against growth and change, says the Urban Taskforce.
“Local Government NSW concerns about developers is really a case of shoot the messenger as it is the developers in our society who develop new housing for our growing population”, says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “Clearly a planning system must be focused on how to manage growth and where this should be located. To interpret this as only being for the benefit of developers is a major exaggeration.”
“Local Government NSW is also misinterpreting NSW Government’s statement about returning planning powers to the community. This statement has since been modified in the White Paper to a community participation charter. The NSW Government needs to clarify that it is participation and not total power that communities will have in relation to planning.”
“NSW has a representative democracy where we elect members of parliament and councillors to represent the broader community rather than a governance system where everybody in the community can influence every decision.”
The planning reforms are a good balance between community involvement and the need to have a simpler planning system to enable new housing to be built. If the planning system becomes too complex and too long, it will encourage investors in new development to go interstate, this would work against the other election statement to make NSW no 1.”
