Lismore City Council has just announced that the controversial Planning Panel has been disbanded and that planning powers will be returned to Lismore Councillors.
Mayor Steve Krieg has welcomed the NSW Government’s decision to disband the Lismore Local Planning Panel. ‘I would like to thank the Minister for taking on board Council’s resolution at the March Ordinary meeting that councillors did not need assistance in undertaking our role as the consent authority.
‘I would also like to thank our State Member for Lismore Janelle Saffin who actively lobbied the Minister on Council’s behalf.’
Minister for Planning Paul Scully wrote to the Mayor on Friday to advise his decision after recent visits to the Northern Rivers.
Speeding up development
Earlier in the year, the NSW Government had announced it would establish the Lismore Local Planning Panel to ‘speed up development’ in Lismore after the February 2022 natural disaster.
However, at the March Ordinary Meeting, councillors passed a motion that they had never asked for assistance, are not in need of assistance and that ‘councillors have little to no impact in relation to planning delays, since we have no direct involvement in operational matters, and rarely call any matters up for consideration by councillors’.
The community will see no change as Council’s Planning team have continued to undertake the approval of development applications. This will mean Councillors can again ‘call up’ specific development applications for Council’s decision.
The Local Planning Panel had yet to met, with the first meeting scheduled for 28 June 2023.
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