Country Mayors endorse opposition to Planning Piracy

The Country Mayors Association of NSW (CMA) has endorsed the universal condemnation at the Local Government NSW conference in Tamworth this week of the State Government’s planning announcement last Friday.

“The NSW Government has looted the most significant planning decisions from Country Councils that are democratically elected to consider local concerns and impacts, once again we are impacted by a major announcement that has come out of the blue,” CMA Chairman and Temora Shire Mayor Cr. Rick Firman OAM said.

“We have an open door when it comes to consultation with the NSW Government, so it is disappointing when that is not reciprocated. There appears to be a lack of respect and courtesy for CMA members demonstrated here, which is surprising to us. When NSW Premier the Hon. Chris Minns announced the planning policy shift, it was the first anyone in Local Government knew of it and he had been invited to address our Country Mayors AGM at the time.”

The Premier announced that a three-person planning authority to be known as the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA), would be given responsibility for housing developments over $60 million in the Sydney region and over $30 million in rural and regional areas from early 2025. The HDA will be overseen by the Premier’s Department Secretary Simon Draper, Planning Department Secretary Kiersten Fishburn and Infrastructure NSW Chief Executive Tom Gellibrand.

The proposed legislation which would introduce a new planning pathway in NSW that circumvents local government has been met with cautious optimism by the industry, according to The Urban Developer, Australia’s largest community of property developers and urban development professionals.

The NSW Government has stated that the new planning pathway is aimed at reducing approval times and speeding up the delivery of new homes. “Plundering the crème of planning decisions from Local Government willnot be a win for developers, in terms of efficiency. The experience of Country Mayors is that a bottle-neck is being created. Every Council has pressure to be as efficient as possible with development applications – the State Government’s Planning Portal tracks how long applications are in the system and processing times become a simplistic performance measuring stick for Councils. The proposed HDA will surely entertain a consultation process and councils will have to produce submissions alongside affected nearby property owners. We would respectfully ask what time pressures will govern that process?” Mayor Firman said.

CMA Deputy Chairman and Bega Valley Shire Mayor, Cr. Russell Fitzpatrick said that Planning NSW has already been holding back development in country NSW due to a lack of local knowledge in the process, without this additional bottleneck. “In my Shire, the NSW Government required a full flood study on a planning proposal that would have released over 300 lots on land that would never suffer flooding in any shape or form,” he said. “This  proposal was two years with NSW Planning overall, and to be on the receiving end of a one-size-fits-all solution was extremely disappointing.”

“When the State Government steps in and allows development in country communities without any regard for Local Councils and communities, local knowledge and considerations are overridden and there are always consequences. Now they are creating a pathway that bypasses Local Government for the private sector to do the same thing.”

“The best outcomes come through partnerships; when state governments and developers work with local councils to deliver outcomes that work for the community. The planning system needs to be reformed with more scope for local councils to use local knowledge and implement local solutions to support development in their shires,” Cr. Fitzpatrick said. Mayor Firman said that CMA leadership will be writing to the Premier and Minister to formally articulate their concerns, out of respect and courtesy.

Fully supported by the Country Mayors Association of NSW, the motion passed at the LGNSW Annual Conference was: Motion  #4 Addressing the housing crisis – Greater collaboration on planning reforms

That Local Government NSW and councils across the state: 1. Reaffirm their support for actions to address the housing crisis and acknowledge the need for new and more diverse housing in well-located areas across NSW. 2. Call on the NSW Government to commit to a more collaborative approach in codesigning and implementing planning reforms with councils to ensure: a. Reforms are responsive to different planning contexts and deliver high quality, liveable and sustainable housing, neighbourhoods and communities. b. Plans and provisions are made for the funding and timely delivery of both state and local infrastructure needed to support increased density. c. Changes aimed at increasing development density uplift include the provision of affordable housing in-perpetuity. d. There is robust, transparent and regular monitoring by the NSW Government of the outcomes of planning reforms with a holistic approach to the roles of all players in the planning and development process. 3. Call on the NSW Government to investigate the number of vacant dwellings in NSW and how these can be quickly made available for housing. 4. Condemn the NSW Government’s 15 November 2024 announcement that it will bypass councils and communities with a new spot-rezoning and state approval pathway, which will deliver windfall gains for developers while removing safeguards that protect communities from inappropriate overdevelopment

For further information, contact: Chairman CMA - Cr Rick Firman OAM: 0429 204 060 Caption: CMA Deputy Chairman Cr. Russell Fitzpatrick and Chairman Cr. Rick Firman OAM