Council to consider raising minimum submission number
Central Coast Council will decide tomorrow night whether to increase the minimum number of submissions required to trigger referral of a development application to the Local Planning Panel for determination.
Deputy mayor Cr Doug Eaton has given notice that he will move a motion to increase the number from 10 to 20.
Currently, council planners determine applications which have received less than 10 submissions during the public exhibition period.
Applications which have received more than 10 submissions are forwarded to the Panel, together with a Council planner assessment and recommendations.
Members of the public have the opportunity to address the planning panel, having read the council staff assessment before a decision is made.
The staff assessment is not publicly available in cases where less than 10 submissions are received, until after the planners have made their determination.
Cr Eaton's motion would raise this number to 20, and would submit the policy to the Department of Planning for approval.
Council chief executive Mr David Farmer has commented in the agenda that "this Notice of Motion has legal, strategic, financial or policy implications which should be taken into consideration by the meeting".
"As a result, a verbal response will be provided by the Director of Environment and Planning on or before the November 26 Ordinary Meeting," he said.
The "trigger" is defined in the Central Coast Council's Community Participation Policy, which must be set up under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act.
The Council's draft Community Engagement Strategy, which includes the Community Participation Plan, was recently advertised for public comment, with comments closing on September 30.
According to the Council's Your Voice Our Coast consultation website, the draft strategy is currently at Stage 5, where public comments are being reviewed by council staff.
At Stage 6, council staff prepare a report for council consideration and submit it to the council.
Cr Eaton's motion appears to pre-empt the recommendations of this report.
According to the Community Participation provisions of the Act, "The mandatory requirements include public exhibition for a minimum period, public notification requirements and the giving of reasons for decisions by planning authorities.
"The regulations under that Schedule may also require community consultation by applicants for consents or other approvals."
It includes the statement: "Community participation should be inclusive and planning authorities should actively seek views that are representative of the community."
SOURCE:
Central Coast Council agenda 3.3, 24 Nov 2024