In each edition we feature the views of a Local Government Association president.
The following is from Councillor Genia McCaffery, President of the
Local Government Association of New South Wales.
The New South Wales Government passed controversial planning laws in June this year. The laws were publically opposed by the Local Government and Shires Associations on behalf of councils and their communities across the State.
Under the new legislation, councils will lose many of their decision making powers, and the community will lose its right to have a say on local developments. In many cases, residents won’t know about a development or major renovation until a bulldozer shows up next door.
Private certifiers – paid by the developer – will be able to approve major extensions and renovations without input from neighbours or council. Aside from an inherent conflict of interest in this process, there is also considerable scope for poor behaviour and errors.
Local Government is the closest sphere of government to the community, which means councils – not developers or private companies – are in the best position to make planning decisions.
We appreciate local needs, and understand what our residents want – and don’t want – in their suburb.
The amount of funds councils can currently collect from developers to build essential community facilities, such as parks, playgrounds and childcare centres, is being drastically slashed under the new laws.
This will make it more difficult for councils, which are already struggling financially due to factors such as cost shifting and rate pegging, to provide adequate local services.
The only winners under these new laws are private certifiers and developers. Ratepayers will have to foot the bills for many of the new panels and appeals processes, and will even have to defend the decision of an arbitrator, for example – despite not having any input into the decision or necessarily agreeing with it.
The laws are currently being rolled out and trials of the building codes have already proved that in their current format they are unworkable.
The Associations are monitoring the laws and keeping a close eye on any impacts on our communities, and will continue to raise concerns to other spheres of government.
We’ve already written to the Department of Planning expressing concerns about the unrealistic time frame set for implementing the legislation.
While NSW Local Government supports reform of development and planning processes, we don’t agree with adding more layers of complexity and red tape to the planning system – which is exactly what the new legislation does.
Ultimately we would like to see a rewrite of the laws,
but in the absence of that, amendments should be made as problems arise.
