The support by the NSW Government for a pre-gateway assessment process for rezoning proposals that councils reject is good news, says the Urban Taskforce, but more refinements are needed.
“With Sydney’s population growing fast it is important that developments can occur where people want to live and work,” says Urban Taskforce CEO, Chris Johnson. “It is good news that the NSW Government is streamlining the process for rezoning land by improving the Pre-Gateway assessment process.”
“The NSW Government has proposed special areas for growth where local plans are a decade or more out of date. Where planning proposals reflect State Government plans but are rejected by local councils it is important that there is a review process like the Pre-Gateway but projects have often taken a year to be assessed. The changes announced by the government will remove many unnecessary steps and get an independent review by the Joint Regional Planning Panel.”
“While supporting the streamlining, the Urban Taskforce believes that when a council rejects a planning proposal that reflects State Government plans, the proposal should be independently assessed and not referred back to the local council as the planning authority. It is important that the Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) gets independent advice from the Department of Planning and Environment and not rely on advice from the council who rejected the proposal. It is also of concern that two of the five members of the JRPP are from the council who rejected the proposal.”
“We are also concerned that where Local Environmental Plans are updated without a review of current strategic plans that the Department may refuse a planning proposal simply because there is a recent LEP.”
“The Urban Taskforce will be submitting a detailed analysis of the Pre-Gateway Review recommendations to government that ensures the intent of providing a more streamlined and independent assessment process for planning proposals for rezoning is achieved. It is important that proposals for development along Parramatta Road and in Priority Precincts don’t have to wait many years for council planning documents to catch up with the state’s strategic planning decisions.”
