Story by The Sydney Morning Herald.
Read The Sydney Morning Herald’s full story here
BYRON SHIRE Council could lose the ability to vote on development applications, under a proposal to be presented to NSW cabinet today, Thursday July 27.
The proposal would require councils to adopt independent panels to assess development applications.
Under the proposal, Byron Shire councillors would retain the ability to set the parameters for development in their local area, but would lose the ability to vote on individual projects under the system, which is already used by some local governments across the state.
The NSW cabinet considered substantially the same proposal in May but did not adopt it.
Following the May meeting, in which Gladys Berejiklian’s government agreed on a range of other housing policies, the Premier and Planning Minister Anthony Roberts said they would consult further on the use of Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels (IHAPs).
The government has since consulted with developers, the Independent Commission Against Corruption and council representatives.
Nevertheless the proposal, if adopted on Thursday, would likely continue to be resisted by some councillors and council representatives, already angered by the government’s forced merger policy.
Concern about the negative reaction from councillors prompted former planning minster Rob Stokes to drop the idea of mandatory IHAPs in planning reforms proposed in January.
The Property Council, which has been pushing for greater use of IHAPs, wrote to cabinet ministers on Wednesday with the results of a survey it commissioned into community attitudes about planning processes.
Although only one in five home owners who responded to the survey said they had ever heard of planning panels, once the process was described, a majority agreed with general propositions about keeping politics and self-interest out of planning decisions.
Byron Shire Council does not even have the power now to plan a piss up in a brewery.
Bloody good job. About time