Planning changes open opportunity for corruption

You may not be aware that the most significant changes to planning legislation in a generation are being pushed through the NSW State Parliament.

The NSW State Government wants to take away your right to comment on planned developments in your local area.

Power is being taken away from residents and given to powerful developer lobby groups who will influence strategic plans and you will lose the right to comment after the strategic plan is developed.

Imagine if the first you time you hear about a block of units being built next door is when the builders arrive and you will have no rights to comment on the proposal.

The Independent Commission Against Corruption made a submission against the strategies that identified that they were subject to corruption and that state governments, Ministers and bureaucrats were no less corruptible (as we have discovered) than local government councillors and bureaucrats.

The Minister and Premier have ignored their concerns.

The community of Central Coast needs to be informed and alerted to the impacts on their living spaces, as they will be profound in identified growth areas such as the Central Coast.

Email, 8 Jun 2013

Kay Williams, Pearl Beach