[Greens-Media] (Hale MLC) Government hypocrisy on planning delays

[Colin Hesse]

Media Release

>From Sylvia Hale, Greens MP and spokesperson for Planning

13 May 2010   - For immediate use
            
Government hypocrisy on planning delays 
 
Greens spokesperson for planning, Sylvia Hale MP, today criticised the
Planning Minister’s double standards on planning delays.
 
“When asked in parliament, the Planning Minister did not deny that on
average it takes a local council 74 days to assess a development
application, whereas a Joint Regional Planning Panel (JRPP) takes on
average 114 days. Nor did the Minister deny that it was taking some
panels more than 240 days to assess development applications and that
this is likely to blow out even further.
 
“The Minister’s justification for the Panels taking so long was
that larger development proposals were more complex, and therefore took
longer to assess than smaller applications.
 
“On the face of it that is a quite reasonable response, but no such
excuse from the Minister or his predecessors was ever forthcoming when
the Government wanted to trash local government for planning delays.
 
“It is sheer hypocrisy to seek to justify delays by Panels when the
Government’s whole rewriting of the Environmental Assessment &
Planning Act and its stripping of planning powers from local councils
was based on assertions about how long it was taking local councils to
process development applications.
 
“The now deeply discredited Part 3A of the Planning Act was
predicated almost entirely on doing away with delays and reducing ‘red
tape’. Clearly that has not happened.
 
 “The time taken to process an application is no indication of
efficiency. Most delays occur because applicants fail to provide all the
relevant information in a timely and adequate manner.
 
“Genuine community consultation takes time as does consulting
residents and groups who will be affected by the outcome of a
development application.
 
“The JRPP process has made the planning process more opaque. The
Planning Minister appoints the majority of members of the panels. Their
appointment is in his hands. These Ministerial appointees are not
accountable to or elected by residents.
 
“There is increasing community unease about the JRPP process, which
allows the interests of developers whose projects exceed $10 million in
value, to take precedence over community interests.
 
“The Planning Panels encounter the same problems that local councils
did when they assessed larger developments, but the Panels have none of
the virtues of local government, namely accountability and
responsibility to residents.
 
“The Government should dump JRPPs, remove Part 3A, and rewrite the
Planning Act in a way that puts environmental, social, and health
concerns as well as community input at the very centre of local decision
making,” said Ms Hale.
 
 
 Contact: Colin Hesse on 9230 3030 or  0401 719 124