News & Events

Blacktown City Mayor, Cr Leo Kelly has joined Mayoral Colleagues from Western Sydney calling for community action against unreasonable State Government reforms which potentially will have serious impact and control over local developments.

Along with the Mayors of Parramatta, Holroyd and Fairfield Councils, Cr Kelly is concerned that the proposed changes will remove control over developments from Local Councils and not allow proper consultation with the communities involved

Mayor Kelly said that of particular concern in the proposals is that applications for development worth less than $1 million, which are in excess of 90% of all residential development work, would not necessarily be referred to Councils for approval and may be dealt with entirely by private certifiers paid for by the developer.

"What Planning Minister Frank Sartor is proposing is that a neighbour may be able to build almost any type of structure next door without any opportunity for surrounding residents to review the impact of the proposals on their own amenity prior to approval and construction. These changes essentially take away residents' say in local development." Mayor Kelly said.

"Local planning and approvals of development applications has long been an important role of local government by giving voice to opponents and supporters of developments on behalf of local communities or individual affected by the various developments that come before the Council." Mayor Kelly added

The current role of Local Government allows for timely, well-considered and fair decisions based not only on legal/planning requirements but also with appropriate consultation." Mayor Kelly concluded.

Submissions on the proposals will be accepted until COB on Friday, 8 February. Visit the Department of Planning's website www.planning.nsw.gov.au/planning_reforms or ring 1300 305 695 for more information. A full document can be downloaded from the above website.