The NSW Opposition will support the Government\u2019s planning law reform bill, with some amendments to make the system fairer, faster and more transparent.
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The bipartisan approach began last year when Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders and Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow wrote to the Premier and the Planning Minister proposing cooperation on planning law reform to help to fix the state\u2019s housing crisis.
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The Leader of the Opposition Mark Speakman said the Opposition\u2019s focus has always been on getting more homes built without adding cost or complexity.
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\u201cPlanning law reform can\u2019t be about politics or spin in the middle of a crisis. It has to be about helping people into homes they can afford, near the families they love and the jobs they rely on. Our amendments are practical, responsible and aimed at cutting red tape while keeping government accountable,\u201d Mr Speakman said.
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Under the Opposition\u2019s proposed amendments:
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The Housing Delivery Authority would be subject to a full statutory review, and further accountability measures would be introduced.
District and regional planning panels would remain.
The Development Coordination Authority would be required to publish annual reports.
The Community Participation Plan would be set out in regulation or equivalent.
The new targeted assessment pathway would not apply to major non-residential developments like mines, waste incinerators, transmission lines, wind farms and solar farms.
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NSW Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders said the regions cannot be left behind.
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\u201cRemoving regional planning panels runs the risk of reducing the capacity to support regional development into the future, which is why we will push for changes to safeguard those projects that will allow our country communities to thrive,\u201d Mr Saunders said.
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\u201cI\u2019m also calling for the Government to ensure the legislation won\u2019t make it easier to rush through renewables projects that have been causing angst for residents and businesses in the bush.\u201d
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Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow said the Opposition\u2019s changes would make the bill more effective.
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\u201cWe need a planning system that delivers homes, not hold-ups. Our amendments will help build faster, smarter and with greater confidence for investors and communities alike,\u201d Mr Farlow said.
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While planning law reform is important, the Minns Labor Government should also be removing barriers to affordability, not creating new ones that don\u2019t help to accelerate home ownership. \u00a0The Housing and Productivity Contribution is a tax introduced by the Government in 2023 on housing continues to make the dream of owning a home even harder for young people and families.
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The contribution is costing developers $12,000 per house and $10,000 per unit in Greater Sydney.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The NSW Opposition will support the Government\u2019s planning law reform bill, with some amendments to make the system fairer, faster and more transparent.\u00a0The bipartisan approach began last year when Opposition Leader Mark Speakman, Nationals Leader Dugald Saunders and Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Scott Farlow wrote to the Premier and the Planning Minister … Continue reading “NSW Opposition backs planning law reforms but demands fairer deal for home buyers and builders”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35415","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nswnews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35415","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35415"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35415\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35416,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35415\/revisions\/35416"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35415"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35415"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35415"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}