Local councils made up of publicly elected members used to hold extensive powers over property development approvals.
But in recent years, the two major parties’ state governments have stripped much of this power from them and concentrated it in the hands of (unelected) ‘planning panels’.
The latest example comes from the amalgamated Central Coast Council in NSW.
Elected councillors replaced by state’s ‘local planning panel’
On Monday, elected Central Coast Councillors were forced to give up their last remaining planning powers to a state-appointed ‘Local Planning Panel’ (LPP).
As reported in Coast Community News, the panel is made up of: one chairman, selected by the NSW State Minister for Planning, Rob Stokes; two professionals, with expertise in urban planning or related fields; and, one community representative.
Further, “The planning panel will rule on development types which are contentious or contravene development standards by more than 10 per cent, developments of more than three storeys, and sensitive applications.
“Smaller applications will be dealt with by council staff with delegated authority, so councillors will no longer decide on any development applications, given that the State Government had already taken away their power to decide [higher value and] regionally or State-significant developments.“
As one councillor said:
“This is a free kick for developers and a means to silence our residents and councillors who represent the voices of the community… [which] shifts the powers of councillors to make local decisions on behalf of residents into the hands of a ‘selected’ panel… The LPP structure does not allow a public voice nor residents to strongly lobby against a proposed development like we see in the Chamber.”
Interestingly, the article noted that not all councillors were against the takeover.
It stated that Cr Bruce McLachlan – the principal of a local real estate agency – “welcomed” the Central Coast community’s new planning overlords.
Real planning reform
Like many cities, suburbs and towns across Australia, Gosford’s skyline is already dominated by cranes.
It’s also clear from corruption enquiries across Australia that local councillors have not covered themselves in glory. Far from it.
We do have a local councillor corruption problem, with money and favours being exchanged for planning decisions.
But there’s one thing that threatens much worse outcomes and ongoing, systemic corruption – replacing publicly elected councillors with unelected ‘planning panels’ dominated by property industry professionals. Favouritism and nepotism will grow.
Sustainable Australia Party proposes that we return real planning powers to local communities, in a democratic way, and reduce the value of planning decisions. This would include:
- Citizen juries; and
- An ACT-style betterment tax (to capture unearned rezoning profits for the public instead of for property developers)
We cover these proposals in our planning policies:
www.sustainableaustralia.org.
There’s no perfect system, but through the game of mates, the major parties and the property industry are moving us in the wrong direction.
We’d also be far better off if our elected officials were spending their time making Australia better, not bigger. We need secure jobs via a more diverse economy, not the false economy of an endless number of property developments requiring an endless number of people to fill them.