HAWKESBURY councillors have admitted concern that two major planning documents will be out of date when Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels come into effect.
The legislation to allow the controversial IHAPs will take effect from March 1. Development applications submitted to Hawkesbury Council between the value of $5 million and $30 million will be determined by the panels, not Council staff and councillors.
Council is currently re-writing its Residential Land Strategy document, while at the end of January, a report was called for to re-write the Development Control Plan too.
Hawkesbury Council director of city planning Matthew Owens said the RLS would be finished by ‘mid 2018’, while a March Council meeting would provide a time frame for the DCP.
IHAPs will take into account the existing documents, when making planning decisions, according to the Department of Planning.
It means even though work is taking place to update the two instruments, the panels will not take them into account until complete.
Hawkesbury Mayor Mary Lyons-Buckett said getting Council’s planning instruments sorted was a priority.
“I don't think our current documents reflect the direction of our Community Strategic Plan,” she told the Gazette.
“I think it is a priority that we have our documents amended.”
Liberal councillor Nathan Zamprogno echoed the Mayor’s comments.
“Council has moved too slowly, we are now caught short with these planning documents being handed to IHAPs and they are not up to scratch,” he said.
“They need to be revised and that process should have started far earlier.
“I want these documents to reflect very specifically, our expectations, so when IHAPs get their hands on them, they won't have any excuse.”
Fellow Liberal councillor Patrick Conolly said the concern about getting planning instruments ready was an admission that IHAPs would work as they were intended to.
“I have heard some Councillor’s state that Councils should have time to rewrite their planning instruments which IHAPs will use to make decisions,” he said.
“This is just an admission that IHAPs will follow the planning instruments, whereas those Councillors obviously don’t think they are bound to follow them in the same way.”
