Planning Panels a Macquarie St Power Grab

“The result for many communities will be more overdevelopment, higher densities, more traffic gridlock and a reduced standard of living.”

“The Minister claims that this will reduce corruption but rather than removing the main corrupting influence, the millions of dollars in financial contributions to the major parties from developers, the government is instead taking the decision-making power away from elected local community representatives and giving it to panels controlled by a Minister whose party continues to collect millions of dollars from the property industry,” Ms Hale said.

“Local Councils across the state and the political spectrum have refused to nominate members to these regional planning panels. They are rightly concerned about the loss of community involvement in decision-making, the potential conflicts of interest that may emerge for elected Councillors or Council staff who sit on the panels and how much the Councils will have to contribute to the costs of the panels.”

“These latest moves demonstrate the way this state government treats local communities. Power has been shifted away from elected local councils and into the hands of state Ministers while costs have been shifted back onto local residents.”

“It’s time to put the community interest back into the heart of the NSW planning system,” Ms Hale said.

Contact: Chris Holley on 02 9230 3030 or 0437 779 546