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All Current and Past Media Releases
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Media Release - Minister's Office Sydney: 20 October 2004 PLANNING REFORM WILL HELP GUIDE FUTURE VISION FOR SYDNEY Local residents across Sydney are having their say about how Sydney should grow over the next several decades as part of the development of the Metropolitan Strategy.
Minister for Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources, Craig Knowles, attended the first of around a dozen ‘town hall’ type meetings to be held across Sydney earlier this week at Parramatta.
“Our goal is to talk to up to 700 people, invited at random, from across Sydney to hear what their hopes for the future Sydney might be.
“We’ve already started to work with planning experts and with local Councils, but it would be impossible to work on a set of principles for Sydney’s future, without talking to the people who live in this city.
“By going to where people live, we are trying to gather information about what is important locally as well as listen to what people have to say about the development of Sydney as a whole,” Mr Knowles said.
“Based on our first session, Sydney-siders are very keen to have their say. And it’s not just those who are invited to the community forums that we want to hear from. Everyone can make a contribution via our website at www.metrostrategy.nsw.gov.au .”
Mr Knowles said that recent reforms to the NSW planning system would underpin the delivery of the Metropolitan Strategy.
“The planning system in NSW had become fettered by red-tape and complexity.
“Our planning reforms will effectively rewrite the rule book; making it slimmer and easier to use.
“This is the most comprehensive set of planning reforms to be seen in several decades. Some of the key features will be:
- Reducing the number of planning definitions from 1,700 to les than 240250; - Revising the number of zoning categories from 3,100 down to just 25; - Reducing the number of Local Environmental Plans from 5,500 down to one for every local government area; - Dramatically reducing the number of concurrences by 1,000 before the end of the year, with further reductions to come.
“As an example of how this will change the system, at the moment every development proposed within a defined distance of a water course or drainage reserve has to have a permit from the Department of Infrastructure, Planning & Natural Resources.
“In other words, local councils have to come to DIPNR for every single proposal in these areas – even simple things like a carport or a pergola.
“That usually means more time and more frustration for people who just want to get on with their project.
“Currently, there are over 3,000 ‘triggers’ of this type where proposals have to be sent to a state government agency for concurrence.
“Under our reforms, we’ll have reduced that number by 1,000 by Christmas and we’ll get rid of even more in 2005.
“We want to create more certainty for communities and developers in terms of what development is appropriate and where, and what rules apply.
“These reforms sit side-by-side with the Metropolitan Strategy; they will greatly facilitate the work we need to do to keep Sydney liveable, competitive and sustainable for future generations.”
© NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources
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