Councils' fates rest in Sartor's hands

The change, which puts into effect amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act, allows Mr Sartor to seize control of a council if he believes it is in the public interest.

Until now, councils had their powers removed only after an inquiry or with the consent of a majority of councillors.

Community groups and councils are already bristling over a fee of $250 to participate in a forum hosted by the State Government to discuss an overhaul of council planning laws designed to speed up the processing of development applications.

The president of the Local Government and Shires Association, Genia McCaffery, said the new powers were completely subjective and the changes "should be of major concern to every resident in NSW".

"If [Sartor] gets out of bed in the morning and decides he doesn't like a council he can do it [sack the council]," she said.

The changes help a minister decide if the performance of a council in planning and development matters is unsatisfactory.

Criteria for sacking include how long a council takes to process development applications, including for renovations, as well as the type of demands it makes under its planning rules.

"Mums and dads are entitled to expect councils to deal with their development applications in a timely way," a spokeswoman for Mr Sartor said.

This month, Mr Sartor indicated he was willing to use the new powers, which come into effect on Wednesday, if councils did not speed up their processing of development applications.

Mr Sartor's proposed overhaul of planning laws, which he wants passed by the middle of next year, includes stripping councils of the power to approve development applications and widening the role of private certifiers. At present, private certifiers can be hired to process building certificates but they have been widely criticised because they are paid by the developer.

Rather than hold a public inquiry to discuss the changes, the Department of Planning is charging $250 a head to attend a forum called "New Ideas for Planning".

Each council is to be permitted one free seat at the conference after Cr McCaffery complained about having to pay.

The executive director of the Total Environment Centre, Jeff Angel, said it was a departure from the way the State Government changed laws.

"No other department would ever dream of charging for that sort of process," he said. "It's obviously intended to dissuade community group participation."

A spokesman for the department said consultation with stakeholder groups would take place but the stakeholders had not yet been identified.

Mr Angel said that the last time an important planning policy, the Metropolitan Strategy, was introduced, the department held free public forums.

http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/councils-fates-rest-in-sartors-hands/2007/07/29/1185647743452.html