Posted 9/6/08
Save Our Suburbs
Media Release - May 8, 2008
Urban planning in crisis –
Auditor-General’s Planning Report
Yesterday the Victorian Auditor General tabled in Parliament
his highly critical report on Victoria's Planning Framework for Land Use and Development.
Key findings were that -
- "In 78% of [permit application] cases examined, officer
reports did not give adequate consideration to matters specified in the Act,
planning scheme or both."
- "Some elements of the new format planning schemes have
become overly complex, are unclear and are not adequately achieving their original
intent as established under the Victoria Planning Provisions...and need to be
addressed."
- "Performance measurement arrangements have not been developed
to assess the impact of changes to the legislative and regulatory framework
designed to improve the effectiveness and efficiency of statutory processes.
Consequently, it is unclear whether these changes have achieved their intended
goals"
- Existing arrangements within the Department of Planning
and Community Development do not allow for comprehensive measurement and monitoring
of the overall performance of the planning system.
- Councils did not adequately comply with the Planning
& Environment Act when amendments were made to applications prior to a council
decision.
Key difficulties cited by Councils in their management of planning
included:
- Strong development growth has increased the work pressure
on already-stretched resources so some planning staff don't have the time or
capacity to effectively address all statutory requirements.
- Councils employ a high proportion of inexperienced planners
because it is hard to attract and retain qualified planners.
- the complexity of existing planning processes (including
the State Planning Provisions) and the lack of prescription
contribute to uncertainty in decision-making.
The report clearly describes many of the issues that Save
Our Suburbs has been raising for years. Will the State Government take more notice
of the Auditor General than it has of the community and do something about these
issues?
Ian Quick, SOS President - contact 0422 479 540
Ian Wood, SOS Vice-President - contact 0424 104 274