The clear win by the Baird Government at the state election gives the government a strong mandate to drive growth in New South Wales, says the Urban Taskforce.
“Mike Baird’s team presented a package to the electorate of a program for growth with significant infrastructure investment through a partial sale of poles and wires,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “The Government must take the mandate from the people of NSW and restructure the governance around how growth is planned & managed so that infrastructure delivery supports housing and jobs growth.”
“The Government has promised a Greater Sydney Commission to take the lead role in planning for Sydney’s growth and this needs to be fast tracked so that the Commission can be responsible for the planning of Sydney’s six subregions. Clearly the state needs to drive Sydney’s future growth rather than leaving this to 41 local councils. The Greater Sydney Commission should restructure planning resources into Centres of Excellence in each of the six sub-regions so that strategic planning and assessments of projects over $20 million are handled at this regional level.”
“The Urban Taskforce agrees with the position taken by the Leader of the Opposition, Luke Foley, in support of a strong Greater Sydney Commission and we believe that this should lead to a unified approach by the major parties to establishing a governance structure for the benefit of all Sydney siders.”
“There is now a strong momentum in New South Wales that has given confidence to investors in the state’s growth and this needs to flow into a reform of state and local government processes that are slowing decision making down when compared to other states.”
“The previous NSW Government was overly cautious in its reform agenda which left planning and local government improvements still unresolved after four years. We encourage the Baird Government to move swiftly with its new mandate so that most governance reforms are completed before the end of 2015.”
“The Urban Taskforce also looks forward to a constructive relationship with the opposition and minor parties so that all political parties can ensure the long term prosperity of the citizens of NSW by making key decisions now that set the framework for future generations.”
