Local residents will no longer have a say on new flat buildings and shop-top housing developments in their area, as the Department of Planning moves to overhaul public consultation across the state.
What happened: Whenever a significant development goes ahead in New South Wales — whether that be a suburban home installing a pool or a 50-storey tower — those plans are required to go out for public consultation.
A public… what? A public consultation involves alerting all nearby residents, businesses and those likely to be affected by any changes of a development, so they can give their feedback before work goes ahead.
For example: When McDonald’s proposed opening a franchise in Crows Nest last year, more than 60 local residents wrote in opposing the development on a number of grounds. The application was eventually withdrawn. They were made aware of this proposed development because it had gone out for public consultation.
A complicated system: Currently, community consultation is managed via differing systems for each of NSW’s 128 local councils.
In April, the NSW Department of Planning put forward a plan to simplify this system, bringing it under one consistent, state-wide approach. But it comes with a few caveats.
The new system would exempt a number of projects from consultation processes entirely, such as residential flat buildings or shop-top housing.
Instead, these projects will only need to give nearby residents a seven-day heads up before construction begins.
Smaller-scale renovations — pools, sheds and additions to existing dwellings — will also no longer need to go out for public exhibition.
Not happy: Last week, Hornsby Shire Council made its discontent with the changes known.
🗣️ “The community expects transparency when it comes to development and planning decisions”, said Mayor Warren Waddell.
Ku-ring-gai Council has also prepared a letter of objection to the proposal, which regards several of the exemptions as “unsuitable”. Ku-ring-gai councillors will vote on Tuesday evening whether to endorse this letter.
Both councils agree there is merit in the larger proposal of a streamlined, statewide approach to consultation.
The proposed plan itself is currently on public exhibition until June 3.