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Update on the new planning legislation

Mark Parnell MLC, Parliamentary Leader of the SA Greens, has given us this update from his perspective:

After several months of debate, the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Bill finally passed through both Houses of Parliament last week.  Whilst the new system will take years to implement fully and there will be more Bills to come, I thought I would share with you now some of the positive and negative aspects of this new legislation.

Good
1. The “Urban Growth Boundary”, which was initially defeated but later re-instated by the Upper House.  This should help limit urban sprawl.
2. Dozens of Greens’ amendments passed including:

  • Recognising climate change as a key consideration in planning decisions;
  • Protecting the Adelaide Park Lands from inappropriate development;
  • Preventing some Ministerial abuse of planning powers;
  • Greater rights for citizens to access information about developments;
  • More consultation with Councils over decisions in local areas; and
  • Direct notification to property owners of planning changes that affect them.

Bad
1. Despite a new “Planning Commission”, the Planning Minister still retains an unhealthy power to interfere in proper planning processes.
2. Community input to development decisions has been further eroded.  Neighbours have fewer rights.  It’s harder to challenge bad or illegal decisions in Court.
3. No scrutiny of developers’ donations to political parties.
4. Weak “significant tree” laws will see more unnecessary removal of large trees in metropolitan areas.
5. Parliamentary “scrutiny” of planning decisions remains pathetic.

Just so-so
1. Local Councillors retain the right to serve on Assessment Panels, but only in a reduced capacity.  Labor, Family First and the Xenophon Team wanted to get rid of them altogether. The Greens wanted two. The compromise was to allow a maximum of one Councillor on a five-person panel.
2. The status of “local heritage” is still unresolved.
3. Agreements to share the cost of infrastructure between developers, government and property owners are a good idea but may be unworkable in practice.

Conclusion
We now have the bones of a new planning system and I am proud to have played a part in improving it.  Thanks to everyone who provided feedback, and to those who lobbied for improvements during the marathon debates in Parliament.

Lastly, to give you a feel for the magnitude of the exercise, here are some numbers:

Total Clauses: 246 (plus 7 schedules)
Amendments filed: 387
Lower House: 88 (all passed)
Upper House: 299 (185 passed)
Hours spent in debate: 55

Kind regards

Mark Parnell MLC
Parliamentary Leader, Greens SA

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