Council adopts modified submissions policy

Fifty objections will be the new minimum requirement for a development application to be automatically referred to a meeting of the Central Coast Council for determination.

The new Council had attempted to set the bar at 100 submissions but, following public consultation, reduced that requirement to 50 objections, a number that representatives of smaller communities still believe is too high.

The Council had further amended the new Public Submissions Policy to require two or more councillors to request other DAs be considered at a public meeting instead of one councillor, as was the practice of the former Gosford Council.

The word "submissions" was also been replaced with "objections" in the rewritten policy so that it will only be the number of submissions opposing a DA that will count towards to the new minimum thresholds.

The late changes will not be subject to further public consultation.

Dr Hal Colebatch, from the Wagstaffe-Killcare Community Association, spoke against the changes.

He said Council should retain the approach of the former Gosford and Wyong Councils "until new, democratically-elected Councillors are put in place, or otherwise adopt the Gosford Council practice".

The former Gosford Council required that all applications receiving more than five submissions were to be determined at a Council meeting and all councillors had the ability to call up any DA.

Dr Colebatch said the community association had voted to oppose the forced amalgamation of Gosford and Wyong Councils in November 2015.

"The association continues to oppose this situation as no benefits have been advised from increased size," he said.

"The draft Public Submissions Policy illustrates our concerns.

"Until Council elections are held we have no democratic representation and hence such a major change from the past Gosford Council approach should not be agreed," he said.

Dr Colebatch said the diversity in the previous Gosford Local Government Area, ranging from high urban areas to bush and beach on the Peninsulas made representation difficult enough but it will be more difficult now within an enlarged government area.

"Greater size means it is more difficult for prospective councillors to have any knowledge of particular areas," Dr Colebatch said.

"The proposed changes reduce the significance of elected representatives and increase that of Council staff," he said.

He said figures from the past showed that Gosford Council been able to deal with submissions attracting over five submissions and there had been no explanation given as to why it takes staff 21 days to write a report.

Dr Colebatch said the dramatic reduction from 40 meetings per year between the two former councils to 10 per year under the Central Coast Council would also result in a dramatic increase in staff power as opposed to Councillor power and had all taken place while the Council was under administration.

"The working practices of the new Council should be negotiated between the new councillors and staff.

"This approach is taking advantage of the absence of elected representatives and contrasts unfavourably with the caretaker conventions observed by Governments," he said.

"It also breaches the Minister's assurance that Gosford and Wyong communities will have an opportunity to shape how a new merged council will be structured and function, including the appropriate number of elected councillors," Dr Colebatch said.

Central Coast Council agenda 3.6, 26 Oct 2016

Media release, 26 Oct 2016

Ian Reynolds, Central Coast Council

Email, 27 Oct 2016

Hal Colebatch, WTKCA