Attempt to scrub out new DA rules on objections

Update

The councillors agreed to the rescission motion and a report will come back to the council on the ramifications of going to the figure of 15.

Before the meeting

Three Liberal and two independent Councillors hope to reverse a decision the majority of Councillors voted for on December 18 last year.

They want to reverse the decision that reduced the number of objections to a development application that triggers an automatic consideration by Councillors.

At the December meeting the majority voted to reduce the number of objections received from 50 to 15.

Liberal Councillors Jilly Pilon and Rebecca Gale Collins had tried to get it up to 30 but lost out.

Independent Councillor Greg Best voted for the 15 or more but is now part of the group calling for the rescission vote.

Joining Councillor Best are Liberal Councillors Pilon, and Gale Collins, Troy Marquart and Independent Bruce McLachlan.

Those who voted for the reduction down to 15 objections, apart from Cr Best, were: Mayor Smith and Councillors Holstein, and Greenaway (independents) and the ALP’s Mehrtens, Sundstrom, Matthews, MacGregor, Vincent and Hogan.

If the council votes to reverse the decision, the Councillors want them to adopt the following points:

1 That Council reaffirms its confidence in staff and the importance of
consulting staff prior to any major variations to key policies and procedures.
2 That Council recognises the need for transparency and the benefits of continually refining the public consultation process.
3 Council in partnership with staff and the community explore all options to optimise the public DA review process.
4 The general manager to report on the extra resources, costs, staffing and impacts on service delivery as a consequence of Council reducing the DA call-up figure to 15 objections.
5 That Council notes that any DA regardless of the level of objections can be called to full Council by any two Councillors at any time prior to determination.”

The rescission motion will be debated at this Monday night’s council meeting.

This story will be updated after that meeting or follow the Central Coast Council Watch Facebook page for live updates during the meeting.