The
Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (EP&A Act ) is
the main vehicle for planning in NSW. The EP&A Act provides a comprehensive
three tier planning scheme, allowing for state, regional and local plans, as
well as outlining the development assessment process. Whilst the Act attracted
considerable support upon its introduction, nearly twenty years of amendments,
case law and the proliferation of other natural resource legislation has meant
that the natural resource management regime in NSW is, to say the least,
complex.
In mid 1998 consultations began on the review process for updating the method
of environmental planning under the Act. After the release of a Green Paper in
1999 and further consultation, in February 2001
PlanFirst, Review of plan
making in NSW White Paper was released. The White Paper foreshadowed
publication of a draft exposure bill on the proposed reforms in later 2001.
This paper briefly reviews some of the problems of environmental planning under
the current system, summarises the proposed changes as noted in the White
Paper, and provides the views of the reforms of some key stakeholders.
The PlanFirst framework aims to provide a 'whole of government' strategic
approach to urban, regional and rural planning. The proposed reforms are
designed to enable the plans and policies of government agencies which have a
bearing on environmental planning to be better connected to the planning
system. The White Paper proposed three levels of planning documents: local
plans; regional strategies; and state planning polices.
It is proposed that the local plan will set the strategic direction for the
council, and provide the focus for actions, development and environmental
management across the whole local government area. A local plan will: be the
strategic whole of council plan; provide a single mechanism that coordinates
and focuses a council's planning activities; be a single plan; cover a whole
local government area, setting the direction for at least 3-5 years. Each
council will have only one local plan, which will provide all the information
for guiding the management of the local government area and development
decisions taken.
The White Paper noted that regional strategies will: be a region's principal
environmental planning document; provide agreed goals; be much broader than a
development control document, giving strong direction, identifying priorities
for action and promoting opportunities for investment; set a clear framework
for local planning; interpret and apply state planning policies and implement
solutions to regional priorities and cross boundary issues; not affect the
legal status of other regional plans, such as those dealing with natural
resource issues.
State planning policies provide comprehensive advice on: the protection of
ecological processes and natural systems; economic development; the maintenance
of community well-being; and set the context for regional and local planning
and decision making. The White Paper noted that after the passage of amendments
to the EP&A Act, state planning policies will be prepared first, to enable
the preparation of regional strategies. Once regional strategies are prepared,
local plans can then be developed.
