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July 14th, 2012 
FAKE NEWS for the Zionist agenda Local rows over individual developments in NSW are set to become a thing of the past under new laws designed to “depoliticise” planning and boost investment, the state government says.
But the opposition and Greens fear communities may be left with unwanted buildings that are too big and unfit for a specific site.
Under the proposed system, released in a green paper by Planning Minister Brad Hazzard on Saturday, community consultation will happen “upfront” during the drafting of land use plans for particular areas.
Development that is consistent with the “strategic plans” will “proceed in a timely and straightforward manner”, with councils and other consent authorities unable to reject a compliant proposal.
“Good strategic planning … will help ensure that site-specific wars about individual developments become a thing of the past,” Mr Hazzard said.
Industry and business groups welcomed the move, with the Sydney Business Chamber’s executive director Patricia Forsythe saying it “depoliticised and largely de-risked process at the development application stage”, while providing communities with more of a say.
But NSW Greens MP John Kaye said talk of community consultation was simply “whitewash” and that people already had the power to plan for the local area under existing local environment plans.
“It’s Brad Hazzard smooth speak for letting the community out of protecting their environment,” Mr Kaye told AAP on Saturday.
While he acknowledged that the current system was “far from perfect”, Mr Kaye said his biggest concern was that communities would be stuck with unwanted developments, which they would not necessarily envisage when commenting on a local plan.
It would be difficult, he said, for people to predict how a 10-storey building could overshadow properties and create traffic hazards without seeing individual development plans.
“The community is to be denied the opportunity to object to a DA (development application) and say `It’s too big, it’s too reflective, it’s in the wrong place’.”
Opposition spokeswoman for planning Linda Burney said the changes would remove councils from determining local development proposals.
“Instead, government-appointed and unelected officials would be making all of the decisions,” she said in a statement.
“I fear these changes will see projects rushed through with far less scrutiny.”
Under the plan, three new zones will also be introduced.
The “enterprise zone” will have minimal development controls, while the “future urban release zone” will leave areas open for construction, and the “suburban character zone” will prevent any development in character-rich areas.
The green paper will be open for submissions until September 14.
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