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All Current and Past Media Releases
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Media Release - Ministers Office Sydney: 7 June 2005 PLANNING REFORM TO GIVE MORE RESPONSIBILITIES BACK TO LOCAL COUNCILS NSW Minister for Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources, Craig Knowles said today that the Government’s proposed planning reforms would hand back many responsibilities back to local Councils, not take away power.
“The planning reform package currently going through the Parliament is designed to keep State Government intervention in planning to the broader, strategic issues and deliver more power to local government to make local decisions,” said Mr Knowles.
“Under the current system, the Minister for Planning has to be involved in determining a range of residential and commercial projects which, while they may be very important to the local community, do not have regional or statewide implications.
“Councils are in the best position to make many of these decisions, and our planning reform package will return the authority for those decisions back to that level.
“Under our plans, residential, commercial, retail or other construction projects with a capital investment of $50 million or more could be determined by the Minister if they are important in achieving regional or state planning objectives.
“At the moment, because of a proliferation of planning rules, I am required to be involved in hundreds of decisions which inevitably adds to the time taken to make a determination.
“For example, over the last four years, I’ve been required to approve upwards of 600 projects, with a combined value of over $150 million which, if dealt with under our planned reforms, would have automatically gone to the local council for a decision.
“If anything, these reforms strengthen the role of Local Government by making sure as many local decisions as possible are made locally,” said Mr Knowles.
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Media Contact: Kathy Connell 0419 239 178
© NSW Department of Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources
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