PMAT community meeting on planning and development decision changes: Removing planning from Councils? Forced amalgamations? State Government takeover of planning?

We fear vested interests in the property and development sectors are strongly pushing the State Government to reform how planning decisions are made in Tasmania, and current options to weaken planning would seriously disadvantage communities and lead to poor planning and development decisions.

The Planning Matters Alliance Tasmania (PMAT) invites you to join us for a community meeting to discuss all things planning, including:

• Forced amalgamation of Central Highlands Council could see the loss of local representation, increased property rates and council costs and loss of local services. PMAT supports voluntary amalgamations.

• Removing Councillors from making decisions on Development Applications, bypassing local democracy. These changes would fundamentally alter Local Government and planning in Tasmania and how the community and Councillors have a say on future developments, including planning appeals.

• The State Government wants to choose who makes planning decisions. They want to replace Councillors with State Government appointed ‘independent assessment panels’. In NSW, local planning panels were created to stamp out corruption, but councillors from across the political spectrum say they favour developers and undermine democratic accountability. An example of the effects of removing Councils as a Planning Authority in NSW and replacing them with planning panels can be read here: How ‘unelected faceless men and women’ keep approving NSW developments, Sydney Morning Herald, August 15, 2021.

• We are seeing the takeover of planning by the State Government and unchecked Ministerial powers: changes in Tasmania’s planning system shift power over planning decisions away from the Tasmanian Planning Commission, Councils and the public into the hands of one individual – the Minister for Planning.

Please bring your friends, family and questions and please forward this email to anyone that might be interested in attending.