WED 17 sEp 2014
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Don Walker Chisel legend back for a double
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Yes, to better planning Candidates endorse new charter calling for greater transparency amelia parrott
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andidates running for the seat of Charlestown in next month’s by-election met in Newcastle last week to endorse a charter aimed at overhauling the state’s planning process. Authored by the Better Planning Network, a coalition of community groups from across NSW, the document calls for the public to have a greater say in the planning process and for greater accountability and transparency in the approval process. Labor candidate, Jodie Harrison, Greens candidate, Jane Oakley, and Christian Democratic Party candidate, Reverend Brian Tucker each endorsed the charter on the night. Ms Harrison said the planning process needed to be transparent and pointed to her tenure as mayor of Lake Macquarie as an example of positive planning. “Just have look at Lake Macquarie’s website,� she said. “Everything in relation to a development application (DA) is actually on our website, every report, every submission that’s made, every notification that we make to other bodies, to individuals in the community who are affected by a DA, they’re all publicly accessible and transparent and I think that’s something that should happen with all planning decisions.� In light of the Independent Commission Against Corruption scandals of recent months, Ms Oakley
Labor candidate for Charlestown, Jodie Harrison at last week’s planning debate in Newcastle said NSW needed to adopt a planning system that insulated against corruption. “This charter incorporates an important anticorruption provision by allowing all parties to access a merits review process [for planning proposals], � she said. “This merits appeal process exists currently in Victoria, where it has been effectively used and there’s no reason it can’t been effectively used in NSW.
“It gives the public confidence that the decisions that come from that process are going to be in the best interest of the community.� Better Planning Network convenor, Corinne Fisher said by endorsing the charter, individual candidates and members of the public could help pressure the Government into reviewing the state’s planning laws. The charter can be viewed and signed online at www.thecommunitycharter.org.
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