One of the most significant current threats to local democracy is from the NSW government's so-called "Planning Reform" program, which they've now been implementing (at the behest of the development and property lobby) since the early '90s, when Craig Knowles was Minister for Planning.
The most recent of these "reforms" is the establishment of Joint Regional Planning Panels (JRPPs), appointed by the NSW Minister for Planning, that will now (from 1 July) decide many of the development applications that were previously determined by local elected representatives.
They will determine all developments valued over $10 million, and subdivisions of more than 250 lots, that are not determined by the Minister for Planning.
See an interesting article on them in The Fifth Estate.
The NSW Department of Planning website for JRPPs is here. The site contains information for councils and members of the public on the JRPPs.
The members of these panels were recently announced (see here). Brief profiles of each member can be found here.
Garry Fielding has been appointed to Chair the Hunter JRPP.
Mr Fielding is well known in the Newcastle area, since he was Newcastle Council's Director of Planning for many years.
In an op-ed piece in today's paper edition of the Newcastle Herald, Mr Fielding argued that the JRPPs will provide the opportunity for the community to participate in planning decisions.
However, the JRPP website does not yet provide the contact details for the newly appointed JRPP members. Accordingly, NCLD has written to the Department of Planning asking for these contact details for the Hunter members, and when/where they will be available on a publicly accessible website.
We'll keep you posted.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment