I hear many complaints about too many big projects being undertaken under delegation without council knowledge/approval. And critical decisions being made under delegation without proper review.
Post your comments/examples and suggested solutions here relative to this issue.
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MARTHA COVE: A DELEGATED DISASTER???
ReplyDelete"This post was suggested by a follower of MornPenCouncilWatch"
It seems now that Martha Cove is in financial meltdown that the problems that were created are now coming to light.
During the development most outcomes were determined under Delegation by our Councillors to the Shire Planning Group.
The current situation raises many questions about the process, in general, and where we go from here.
Have your say and express your concerns: comment both in terms of Martha Cove issues in general and also the process of this major project being developed under delegation.
There have been issues also about the Planning Group discounting ratepayer concerns and not enforcing the agreements set in place during the development.
MARTHA COVE: A DELEGATED DISASTER???
ReplyDelete“These questions were posed by a follower of MornPenCouncilWatch.
The budget has $20 million set aside for Drainage Works, how much of this money is allocated to the Martha Cove Precinct?
What were the permit conditions for Drainage Works for the developer and were they undertaken?
What were the permit conditions for Excavated Material Quantity remaining on the site, and the actual amount now?
Did the original permit allow for the continued subdivision into smaller lots? If not then why is this occurring?
How involved has the council been in this major development?
MARTHA COVE: A DELEGATED DISASTER???
ReplyDeleteThe question of continued sub division into smaller lots (from small lots to begin with) is an important one.
Now I understand that the developers are asking to subdivide again. Where will it stop? Who is approving this? who is pushing it?
At this point it looks like all that can be built on these lots is high density townhouses with no yard to speak of at all.
Has anyone considered the impact on our schools, roads, and other infrastructure? Who is going to pay for this?
I have attended the last two council meetings "Delegations - Planning Advisory Committee Meeting" which is establishing policy for delegation of responsibilities to the Planning Department. I must say that a lot of good questions were asked by the councillors and I believe this is a good effort and the best policy we can expect at this time.
ReplyDeleteIt is important to keep in mind that this Policy is a living document and can be revised at any time to deal with any glitches that might occur. We do not have to wait a specific time to modify the document or even to redo it.
Many were, I think, expecting to solve all the systemic problems with the planning process with this document and drawing from my ISO9000 experiences, these problems are not solved in policy documents, but rather through the development of clear and concise procedures supporting the document on how, specifically, the policy will be administered. This is where the systemic problems are identified and eliminated.
So the next step has to be for the council to debate and possibly modify the policy and, once approved, move on to the procedure stage. At this point it is important for the council to engage the stakeholders involved in planning in public debate (use sec 223 format?) to identify the systemic issues and develop procedures to deal with them.
To this end a section 86 group consisting of some ratepayers should be set up to develop these procedures for council approval.
Joe Lenzo
It was with great attention that I witnessed the debate during the Council meeting ( Monday 28.10.09) RE: Planning Delegation. Even more interesting was that the opinions brought up were the same concerns that were put forward during previous committee meetings whose terms of reference was to develop the policies. I listened to officers lecture the Council that they (Council) set policy and the Officers implemented it.
ReplyDeleteYet when those same Councillors attempted to set policies they were thwarted by the officers at every turn. Even more shocking was the heavy handedness of the Mayor towards her fellow Councillors in shutting down the debate on these important issues. In my mind, I have to wonder why these particular concerns were ignored by the Officers and not addressed in the policy, being as they were clearly identified and emphasized by the policy setters (Councillors) during the policy development stage???
We now have what looks to be a quite a lengthy planning delegation document (who knows as the public has yet to see a draft: ATTACHMENT 7 – CONFIDENTIAL This attachment relates to a matter which may prejudice Council or any other person and is therefore not available for public viewing.) that obviously does not address some of the concerns of the Councillors (policy makers).
It is important that everyone with the slightest interest whatsoever in the planning process devour this document when it is made public to insure that it serves the needs of the planning process and then consolidate inputs through MornPenCouncilWatch ActionGroup: Planning. With these consolidated inputs we can front the policy makers to revisit this document in the new year after it has had time to be digested.
I will not even get into why or why not the document might be declared confidential other than to say: so much for transparency (completely open and frank). I would have to guess, however, that the prejudice would be that those concerned might review the document and give inputs to their Councillor before, rather than after, the fact.
Cheers,
Joe Lenzo: Editor
MornPenCouncilWatch