Local Government Planning Directors' Forum

Local Government Planning Directors' Forums are run by the Department of Planning, open to senior planners and planning directors employed by local government across NSW.

The purpose of the forum is to share information, and identify preferred options for working together, to create Australia's best planning system.

Forum One, 13 August 2009: Outcomes

The Local Government Planning Directors’ Forum was held by the Department of Planning on Thursday 13 August at Australian Technology Park, Redfern. The forum was open to senior planners and planning directors employed by local government across NSW.

139 people attended the forum, representing 69 councils across NSW, the Local Government and Shires Associations and Regional Organisations of Councils. In addition, Department of Planning executives, staff, Regional Directors and members of the Building Professionals Board were in attendance.

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Click here to for a summary of the Forum outcomes.

The purpose of the forum was to share information with Local Government on the NSW Government’s initiatives to create Australia's best planning system, and identify preferred options to work together to implement these initiatives.

At the forum, the Minister spoke of her commitment to working in partnership with local government to create Australia’s best planinng system. She and the Department are looking forward to working collaboratively with local government to realise this goal.

The forum’s origins were in the Local Government Planning Directors’ Group (LGPDG), which was established by the Minister for Planning in August 2008 as a consultative forum with Local Government on the planning initiatives and their implementation. The LGPDG has met regularly since that time, and has made significant input into the policies and their implementation.

Discussion sessions identified the following key issues:

A cooperative, respectful and collaborative approach, between State and local government should underpin the working relationship.
Meaningful engagement with councils is needed early in the policy process and throughout policy development and implementation.
Local government is feeling the strain of the pace of policy reform and requires State Government to either slow down or to communicate with councils on the most urgent matters.
Feedback to Local Government how its input has been considered by State Government.
The Department’s regional teams are highly regarded by local government. Participants are keen for regional teams to offer timely and relevant information to facilitate genuine consultation with Local Government.
Participants are keen for additional forums to provide more time to explore issues and identify mechanisms for future improvement.

Documents pack

Last Updated 25-Sep-2009

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Joint Regional Planning Panels

Part 3 (Local plan making and Gateway)

Part 4 (Streamlining development assessment)

Commercial and Industrial Code