Chamber highlights appeals rate
The Peninsula Chamber of Commerce has raised concerns over the number of Land and Environment Court Appeals filed against Gosford Council in recent months.
"Considering the recent criticism over the Councils Management Structure Audit, the blow out in the number of appeals that have been filed against Gosford Council over the last few months is a serious problem," said Peninsula Chamber president Matthew Wales.
"Council can ill afford to have valuable professional staff tied up in expensive court cases and not attending to the processing of development and building applications as is rightfully expected by Councils customers".
"No fewer than seven appeals appear on the current business paper which this Chamber estimates will cost the ratepayer nearly $250,000 to defend. "Add this to the litigation list for this year and we are heading for a million dollar legal bill".
"Many of these appeals are as a result of deemed refusals by Council for developments that are for permissible uses within the subject zones".
Mr Wales said that the consumer and ratepayer were the ultimate loser as these costs were ultimately passed on by the developer to future purchasers.
"The Chamber sees this litigating cycle as one of the impediments to the efficient management of Gosford Council.
"The money and resources spent on defending appeals, that for the most part should never have ended up in the Court, only serves to distract the organisation from properly administering the affairs of the City".
Media release, April 20