It appears they want [the state government] to create another process that offers developers an assured pathway to get big, controversial projects approved that cuts out councillors, removes appeal rights and ignores local community concerns.
The Tasmanian Government is planning on pushing through legislation to empower the Planning Minister to remove assessment and approval of developments from the normal local council process and have it done by Development Assessment Panels (DAPs). The Planning Minister would also have new powers to instruct councils to commence planning scheme changes, but perversely, only when a local council has rejected such an application.
Informative piece on DAPs published in The Mercury 07/11/24. Writers include Anja Hilkemeijer and Dr Phillipa McCormack who spoke at PMAT’s #SCRAPTHEDAP Public Meeting last year.
Mercury Opinion Piece: Bill diminishes critical checks and balances Read More »
An open letter to Jeremy Rockliff by an ex-planning commissioner, Catherine Nicholson on the ineffectiveness of development assessment panels.
Letter to the Editor: Development panels costly and ineffective Read More »
The independent panel members [DAPs] are generally pro-development and pro government of the day. They are anything but independent or apolitical.
Examiner Opinion Piece: Will panels undermine local councils? Read More »
The Tasmanian Government has released a State Coastal Policy Position Paper, seperate from the Draft Validation State Coastal Bill 2024, for public comment to fast-track changes to Tasmania’s State Coastal Policy. The proposed changes to Tasmania’s State Coastal Policy will profoundly weaken the Policy and the way coasts are managed and protected in Tasmania.
Take Action for Tasmania’s Coasts: Make a Submission Read More »
Most submissions are against draft laws, write Peter McGlone, Sophie Underwood and Eric Woehler. Published in The Mercury 18 September 2024.
Mercury Opinion Piece: Plea to consider view on coastal policy changes Read More »
Today, 28 organisations have signed an open letter to the Rockliff Government calling for the immediate publication of the first State of the Environment Report in 15 years and for the government to act upon the report’s findings. Tasmania has been without a report since 2009 following the government’s failure to meet legal obligations to publish a report every 5 years.
With just over 400 submissions made in the briefest of public comment periods, 97% of submissions received by the Tasmanian Government were opposed to the proposed retrospective changes to the State Coastal Policy.
Due to PMAT’s work with a range of community groups, it became apparent that proposed changes to our planning appeals tribunal (TASCAT) would have significantly undermined our democracy and had disturbing effect on community members or organisations of not being able to lodge a planning appeal that was contrary to Government policy. We have been told that this was a drafting error. Imagine if it had become law????
