Councils’ planning struggles

Scheme meant to be in place July 1

THE State Government’s much vaunted statewide planning scheme is unlikely to be operating before the next election, with local guidelines yet to be completed by any of Tasmania’s 29 councils.

Councils are required to develop schedules to apply the zones and codes of the statewide scheme, as well as any controls on “unique” places in their area.

Draft provisions need to be submitted to the Tasmanian Planning Commission and then publicly exhibited for 60 days.

The commission will then provide final approval, allowing the statewide provisions to take effect.

Local Government Minister Peter Gutwein has previously said the Tasmanian Planning Scheme, which will replace the 29 council schemes, would be in place from July 1 this year.

The commission said no

council had yet submitted or exhibited draft provisions.

An election is required by March but speculation continues that an earlier poll could be called.

Property Council chief Brian Wightman wants the State Government to develop a detailed plan that brings certainty to the building and construction sector.

“Even assuming a conservative average of one week of hearings per council, this equates to 145 days of [Planning Commission] hearings, which will be an enormous strain on both state and local government resources,” Mr Wightman said.

The Local Government Association estimates it would take the quickest councils five months to complete the work and cost each between $50,000 and $250,000.

Hobart City Council, which estimated a cost of $130,000, expects to submit its draft provisions in November. Clarence expects to submit its draft in February, while Kingborough Mayor Steve Wass could not nominate a finish date.

Local Government Association chief executive Katrena Stephenson said more resources and more timely information were needed from the Government to get the job done.

“It was a much bigger and longer process than they had originally contemplated,” Dr Stephenson said.

“They have progressed a considerable way on their agenda but it is not in place and we will not see any deliverables from it until the state policies are in place and the local provision schedules are in place.”

Councillor Wass said suspicion about the scheme had grown as communities struggled to understand how activities such as subdivision would affect the character of neighbourhoods.

He said the task for Kingborough Council had been enormous.

“It’s big, it’s cumbersome and it’s complicated,” Cr Wass said. “Our paperwork has probably trebled or more.”

Mr Gutwein remained adamant the transition to the statewide scheme, which he said would be cheaper and simpler, was proceeding as scheduled.

“The statewide rules are in place in the time frame we promised and councils are currently transitioning as expected,” he said.

“We have also provided additional support of $300,000 in this year’s budget to assist with this task at a regional level.”

Mr Wightman said the money needed to be spent on managing a co-ordinated approach from councils.

“With 29 councils unwilling to merge and very limited state planning resources, a sophisticated project management mechanism must be put in place,” he said.