The state government is trying to bring in new laws that eliminate your rights to object to inappropriate (aka ‘dodgy’) developments in your neighbourhood.

The government is breaking one of their key election promises to return planning powers to the people of the state.

The current regime is merely pathetic: the new one will be diabolical

The spin doctoring from the premier is that this promise did not mean actually allowing real ordinary people to have a say: it meant that ‘special people’ (read mates and cronies) would be able to participate in strategic planning decisions at the regional level – such as the Central Coast Region.

When this ‘special group’ have decided upon what suits them there will never be any opportunity for residents and property owners to ever have any say.

So local residents and property owners will never have any say on what is actually built in their area.

The current regime is merely pathetic: the new one will be diabolical.
Developers will also have ‘special rights’ to request ‘spot’ zoning changes to build bigger developments sites beyond those agreed to at the regional planning level – and neighbours will never be told about it.

Urban Taskforce’s former director was chief of staff to both Tripodi and Obeid

So even though ordinary people check all the surrounding zonings and developments before investing hundreds and hundreds of thousand dollars on a home or investment property, any ‘special mate’ of a politician can get the zoning changed, build anything they want, destroy the value of your investment and you have no say whatsoever.

The end game of this process is now coming with the release of the WHITE PAPER which will very soon be placed on exhibition to be rubber stamped by Parliament.

When the laws are passed the first you time you will hear about a block of sub standard flats going up next to your house, blocking all your sunlight and taking 20% to 30% of the value of your hard earned investment is the sound of a bulldozer.

As a harbinger of things to come, the state government and key politicians have been having frequent meetings with developer lobby groups (including the radical developer group, the ‘Urban Taskforce’, an organistation with strong links to Eddie Obeid, Joe Tripodi and Nick Greiner).

The Sydney Morning Herald had this to say about the ‘Urban Taskforce’

the Urban Taskforce, the most aggressively anti-regulation of the developer lobby groups.
Unlike other associations in the industry, its membership is by invitation only. Former minister Sartor recently slammed it on radio as the “least credible” of the property lobbies.
The Taskforce co-founder, David Tanevski, is a key player with a long association with the ALP. He has been friends with Tripodi for many years, and the two are veterans of past Labor branch-stacking battles.
The Taskforce’s director, Aaron Gadiel, is a former chief of staff to both Tripodi and Obeid.

And former Liberal Premier and friend of Barry O’Farrell, Nick Greiner was its patron!

Meanwhile a coalition of 340 community groups representing thousand and thousands of ordinary property owners get no say whatsoever.

WHAT CAN BE DONE?

Support thousands of other ordinary people by sending  an email to the government via the BETTER PLANNING NETWORK (BPN ).

Additional financial resources are urgently required to permit BPN to make a professional legal response to the White Paper.

Please consider making a donation: it could be a very cost effective investment.

There is more information on this website including links to the BPN website.

Related articles

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• Revealed: Torbay’s links to Obeid (smh.com.au)