Another headache for Iemma and Rudd..
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MUTINY was in the air at a meeting between local councils last Wednesday, with Blacktown Mayor Leo Kelly leading calls for a boycott against the State Government.
Cr Kelly and mayors from across the state are incensed over proposed cuts to developer levies.
Planning Minister Frank Sartor wants the amount of money developers are forced to pay to provide infrastructure slashed in a hope it will lead to cheaper housing.
That shortfall in infrastructure funds would have to be addressed by council coffers instead, and could lead to increases in council rates.
Mayors also rejected proposals that would see applications for home renovations worth less than $1 million not require neighbour notification, and the use of private contractors to approve development applications instead of councils.
Cr Kelly successfully urged all councils to unite and fight the proposal by refusing to hand over contributions already paid by developers.
“I think Sartor has lost the plot,” he said. “We (Blacktown) could lose up to $60million, we currently have $90 million of developers contributions ear marked for community infrastructure.”
He said those funds were set aside for libraries, childcare centers and sporting venues.
Baulkham Hills Mayor Sonia Phillips, whose council has $29 million in unspent levies, supported Cr Kelly’s call for unity.
“I haven’t seen elected representatives so angry and united since the enforced amalgamation threats a decade ago,” she said. “There was a collective view in that room that we will not lie down, that Labor councils will strongarm their State MPs to resist the planning reforms.”
She said the Government had misled new home buyers into believing the changes would save them $60,000 a block, when it likely only save $15,000 – a saving that would be swallowed up by uncontrolled development in their neighbourhoods.
“The reality is that mums and dads will have no say in million dollar neighbouring housing approvals certified by private practitioners and councils will be powerless to intervene if these structures destroy your shading and block your views,” she said.
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MUTINY was in the air at a meeting between local councils last Wednesday, with Blacktown Mayor Leo Kelly leading calls for a boycott against the State Government.
Cr Kelly and mayors from across the state are incensed over proposed cuts to developer levies.
Planning Minister Frank Sartor wants the amount of money developers are forced to pay to provide infrastructure slashed in a hope it will lead to cheaper housing.
That shortfall in infrastructure funds would have to be addressed by council coffers instead, and could lead to increases in council rates.
Mayors also rejected proposals that would see applications for home renovations worth less than $1 million not require neighbour notification, and the use of private contractors to approve development applications instead of councils.
Cr Kelly successfully urged all councils to unite and fight the proposal by refusing to hand over contributions already paid by developers.
“I think Sartor has lost the plot,” he said. “We (Blacktown) could lose up to $60million, we currently have $90 million of developers contributions ear marked for community infrastructure.”
He said those funds were set aside for libraries, childcare centers and sporting venues.
Baulkham Hills Mayor Sonia Phillips, whose council has $29 million in unspent levies, supported Cr Kelly’s call for unity.
“I haven’t seen elected representatives so angry and united since the enforced amalgamation threats a decade ago,” she said. “There was a collective view in that room that we will not lie down, that Labor councils will strongarm their State MPs to resist the planning reforms.”
She said the Government had misled new home buyers into believing the changes would save them $60,000 a block, when it likely only save $15,000 – a saving that would be swallowed up by uncontrolled development in their neighbourhoods.
“The reality is that mums and dads will have no say in million dollar neighbouring housing approvals certified by private practitioners and councils will be powerless to intervene if these structures destroy your shading and block your views,” she said.
