Newcastle Labor councilors will present a motion at Tuesday's council meeting asking for Newcastle to be excluded from a state government plan to hand development applications over $5 million to an independent panel, saying the move will hinder local democracy.
The plan will see development applications currently managed by council instead handed to an Independent Hearing and Assessment Panel to remove concerns over property interests affecting councillors.
Newcastle's Deputy Lord Mayor and Labor Councilor, Declan Clausen, said taking planning powers away from council would be costly and undemocratic.
"It's really important that the community has the ability to have their say on development matters and the way that's done at the moment is through the elected Council. The government's proposal to strip the elected Council from planning decisions means... the community's voices won't be heard."
The Labor motion will ask the new Planning Minister for this to be done without an independent panel in Newcastle.
"Rather than a blanket ban that would just see Councils removed from being able to make decisions on development altogether, we think a much better outcome would be to target those at risk of conflicts of interest and ensure that they're managed appropriately," said Mr Clausen.
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| Image: http://www.newcastle.nsw.gov.au |
