ICAC recommends independent assessment

The elements of the relationship between Tesrol, the Department of Planning and the Minister for Planning are well documented on the web sites of the Department of Planning and the Electoral Funding Authority.

Three weeks after the Minister for Planning approved the Tesrol development under Part 3A of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, the Independent Commission Against Corruption (ICAC) released the report of its inquiry into the use of Part 3A of the Act.

ICAC recommended that the NSW Minister for Planning refer private sector applications under Part 3A of the EP and A Act which exceed development standards by more than 25 per cent to an independent quasi-judicial body for determination.

The height of the Tesrol proposal approved by the Minister is 38 per cent greater than the height limit in draft Gosford LEP 2009.

The floor space ratio in Stage 1 of the approved development is 2.59 (i.e. floor space is 2.59 times the site area) which is 29.5 per cent greater than the ratio in the draft Gosford LEP 2009.

The Tesrol development is a typical example of the abuse of the planning system that ICAC is describing in its report on Part 3A of the Act.

It would be appropriate for the incoming State Government to refer this development to an inquiry by a quasi-judicial body.

Email, 2 Mar 2011 Michael Conroy, Ettalong