Request to return local planning powers to local government
Published 21 March 2023
On 27 February 2023, Woollahra Council resolved to write to various candidates in the upcoming state election, seeking support for the return of local planning powers to local government. You can view the responses below.
The content of the letter which was sent to various candidates in the upcoming state election is as follows:
Request to return local planning powers to local government
Woollahra Council's planning powers to determine development consents under the Environmental Planning & Assessment Act 1979 were extinguished in August 2017 by the passing of legislation requiring establishment of local planning panels and rendering unlawful any determination of DA consents by elected Councillors. This legislative change does not apply to Local Government Areas in some regional parts of NSW, and as such many regional local governments still exercise powers in determining development consents.
Woollahra Council similarly wants local planning powers returned to metropolitan local governments, and within the context of the upcoming NSW State election, Council resolved on 27 February 2023, that:
- The Mayor writes to the Premier, Dominic Perrottet; the Leader of the Opposition, Chris Minns; and the leaders of the Greens NSW, the National Party, the Shooters and Fishers Party; as well as all candidates contesting the seats of Vaucluse and Sydney in the 2023 NSW election, seeking commitment to:
- i) support for the principle of returning local planning powers to metropolitan local governments; and
- ii) commitment in the next term of NSW Parliament, to work towards developing criteria by which the Minister for Planning may exempt metropolitan local governments from the requirements for local planning panels and in turn return DA determination powers to elected councillors.
- The General Manager to publish responses received on Council's website prior to the 2023 NSW state election.
I look forward to your response, as your position on these matters is important to Council and the Woollahra community.
Yours sincerely
Cr Susan Wynne Mayor
The responses that Woollahra Council has received to date are as follows:
NSW Labor Leader, Mr Chris Minns MP, Friday 17 March 2023:
Dear Mayor Wynne
Thank you for taking the time to write to the office of the NSW Labor Leader, Mr Chris Minns MP.
As the matters you have raised fall under the portfolio of the Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Mr Paul Scully MP, I have forwarded on your correspondence to the Shadow Minister for response.
Your feedback is noted and your correspondence will be kept on file.
Should there be any other issues or questions you wish to raise please do not hesitate to contact us.
Kind regards
Veronica Ficarra | Reception/Admin
Office of the NSW Opposition Leader
Kay Dunne, Candidate for Vaucluse, Sustainable Australia Party, Saturday 18 March 2023
Dear Mayor Wynne
Sustainable Australia Party is an independent community movement with a science and evidence-based policy platform. We are fighting to protect our environment, stop overdevelopment and stop corruption.
On behalf of all Sustainable Australia Party candidates, we support the call to return real planning powers to local communities through their Council. This is outlined in our ‘Planning & Development’ policy here:
https://www.sustainableaustralia.org.au/planning/
Kind regards
William
Cr William Bourke, on behalf of myself and Kay Dunne, Candidate for Vaucluse
Councillor - North Sydney Council
Lead candidate – NSW Legislative Council
President - Sustainable Australia Party
Cr William Bourke, President - Sustainable Australia Party, Saturday 18 March 2023
Dear Pat
Same response form Mark and I, so please see previous email to Mayor Wynne.
Kind regards
William
Cr William Bourke
Councillor - North Sydney Council
Lead candidate – NSW Legislative Council
President - Sustainable Australia Party
Paul Scully MP, Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Member for Wollongong, Monday 20 March 2023
Margaret Merten, Candidate for Vaucluse, NSW Labor Party, Wednesday 22 March 2023
Dear Patricia,
Thankyou for this letter.
Please see my response below:
A. The Mayor writes to the Premier, Dominic Perrottet; the Leader of the Opposition, Chris Minns; and the leaders of the Greens NSW, the National Party, the Shooters and Fishers Party; as well as all candidates contesting the seats of Vaucluse and Sydney in the 2023 NSW election, seeking commitment to:
i) support for the principle of returning local planning powers to metropolitan local governments; and
I fully support the principle of returning local planning powers to metropolitan local governments.
ii) commitment in the next term of NSW Parliament, to work towards developing criteria by which the Minister for Planning may exempt metropolitan local governments from the requirements for local planning panels and in turn return DA determination powers to elected councillors.
If I am elected to represent the Vaucluse community in the State election, I will commit to working with the Minister of Planning to return DA determination powers to elected councillors. Further, if elected, it will a priority of mine to work on an initial first step to ensure greater community input into planning decisions as this is fundamentally what our Vaucluse community wants.
kind regards,
Margaret Merten
Dominic WY Kanak, Candidate for Vaucluse, Greens Party, Friday 24 March 2023
Dear Mayor Wynne,
The Greens NSW were founded on four core principles, one of which is grassroots democracy. We believe that participation from the bottom up strengthens our democracy by holding elected members and governments to account, ensuring they serve the interests of our communities.
Accordingly, the Greens believe in local government. As the level of government closest to the people, we know that local government is best placed to reflect our community's values. We attach a high value to the role of local councillors in representing the views of their local community. Like many of your colleagues at Woollahra Council, we were devastated by the diminution of the role of local councillors when in 2017 both the Liberal and Labor parties ganged up to strip us of our powers to determine DAs.
As a Waverley councillor for over two decades, I have witnessed first hand the impact that this change has had. With DA determinations no longer core business of local government, ultimately greater overdevelopment has occurred and continues to damage the Vaucluse electorate. Without the accountability that comes with regularly facing voters at elections, local planning panels have no mandate and cannot be said to be making decisions in line with community expectations and values.
I wholeheartedly support the calls of Woollahra Council to return planning powers to elected councillors. This is Greens NSW policy and I will continue to advocate strongly for this position if I am elected, a will all Greens members elected to the next NSW Parliament. The future character and natural environment in Vaucluse depends on this, as does our community's faith and trust in local government.
Caring for country, and protecting the character of our uniquely beautiful local area is a job that can only be done by those people our community elects to act as custodians.
Yours sincerely,
Dominic WY Kanak
Greens Candidate for Vaucluse
Kellie Sloane, Member for Vaucluse, NSW Liberal Party, Monday 27 March 2023
Dear Patricia,
Please see my response below to your letter from the Mayor.
Kind regards,
Kellie
Thank you for writing to me regarding Woollahra Council’s motion seeking support to return powers to local council.
I am proud to have been elected as the Member for Vaucluse at the State Election.
I am looking forward to working with Woollahra Council over the next four years and listening to and hearing from residents in the Vaucluse Electorate on issues that impact them, like planning.
As the Member for Vaucluse, I will always stand up for our community and put its interests first. I will advocate to the Minister for Planning in strengthening community input in planning whilst also maintaining integrity in our planning system.
It is important following the election of the Minns Labor Government, that our community works together to oppose Labor’s plans for “urban consolidation” of surplus government land around transport corridors - which have an adverse negative impact on the Vaucluse Electorate.
More information
Woollahra News e-newsletter
Subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter Woollahra News and get updates delivered straight to your inbox.