PIA NSW eNews - April 29, 2011

PIA events next week
State conference papers EOI
Rural strategic planning workshops
Northern NSW planning seminar - economic development
PIA NSW policy & call for comments
Planning practice courses
Support your Institute & raise your profile
Other opportunities for input
Employment
External courses
Ask Gadens column: Part 3A

What's on - professional development

Last chance to register for next week's events at www.planning.org.au/nsw:

Raising the profile of design in NSW... and keeping it on the agenda:
workshop 2
Tuesday, 3 May, 5.30pm-8pm, Sydney
Read more/register online>>

Our neighbourhood - shaping its future
Thursday, 5 May, Sydney Olympic Park
Read more/registrations>>

PLANNING SKILLS BOOTCAMP: Young planners PD workshop & retreat
Sydney Olympic Park, 5-6 May
Read more/registrations>>

Upcoming PIA events

Call for papers to present at the PIA NSW State Conference

The theme for this year’s conference is “Innovation and inspiration in C21st planning”. Expressions of interest are encouraged in a number of sub-categories, covering planning legislation, transport & cities, new technology, community engagement and balancing growth and the environment.

In addition to the above areas, any papers that are thought-provoking, creative, relevant and that seek to stimulate the delegates’ interest are also welcome.
Download information on submitting an EOI>>

2011 Rural strategic planning workshops - registrations open

This series of rural strategic short courses, presented by PIA NSW in conjunction with Edge Land Planning, kicks off soon in Port Macquarie from early June.

The short courses will:

provide an understanding of strategic planning and its application to rural NSW;
Give an update on legal and practical processes of preparing studies and strategies for rural and urban areas;
update participants on the latest practice in issues including rural land preservation, economic development, biodiversity, community consultation, natural resources and urban design;
give participants practical exercises in assessing land capability and identifying constraints to development;
provide a focus on strategic planning for local government and its relationship to State Government processes;
build networks with other development professionals within regions of rural NSW.

Dates & locations (2 modules totalling 5 days):

Port Macquarie 8-10 June, 4-5 August 2011
Tamworth 22-24 June, 11-12 August
Orange 13-15 July, 25-26 August
Wagga Wagga 7-9 September, 3-4 November

Northern NSW planning seminar – mark your diaries

The theme is economic development and planning; Clarence Valley Council is hosting the event. Speakers include Sarah Hill, Practice Manager and Principal Planner of Hill PDA, independent property consultants. Sarah specialises in the relationship between planning, economics and society.

When: Friday, 27 May

Where: Maclean RSL Club, River Street, Maclean

Registrations open shortly at www.planning.org.au/nsw

PIA NSW policy & call for comments

PIA review of the EP&A Act - if you would like to contribute to the work of this group please email Robyn Vincin.

Call for comments - Draft Centres Design Guidelines and Draft Good Design Guideline for Medium Density Living. PIA NSW will be making a submission and would welcome any input on either document - comments should be emailed to Cathy Towers by Friday, 6 May.

Planning Practice Courses

Upcoming Sydney Courses:

Economics of Development Monday-Tuesday 23-24 May
Bookings close 2 May

Climate Change 2-3 June
Bookings close 12 May

Urban Design 16-17 June
Bookings close 26 May

Legislation and Governance 7-8 July
Bookings close 16 June

ENROL NOW>>

Support your Institute & raise your profile

We are pleased to announce a number of sponsorship opportunities for 2011-12 are now available.

A number of our key events are in the planning stages and this is the perfect time to raise your company’s profile:

Planners Dinner July 7;
Young Planners Trivia Night August;
State Conference 28-30 September;
Awards for Planning Excellence and World Town Planning Day 8 November;
Sidney Luker Medal presentation December.

For further information or to discuss a package to suit, please email Robyn Vincin or phone (02) 8904 1011.

Other opportunities for input

"NextGen" affordable housing

Tom Barker, professor of Architecture, Innovation and Design at the University of Technology is inviting PIA members to take part in a survey on Affordable Housing. Their research investigates options for the next generation of affordable or social urban Australian housing within the context of the global housing affordability crisis. Australia has the least affordable housing globally and twice as bad as the USA. In Australia there is an upward trend on housing costs in Australia at the lower end of the market because of supply issues.

NextGen manifests itself within UrbanAid's research at the UTS School of Architecture in partnership with RMIT's SIAL in Melbourne and Hong Kong University's Architecture Department. Their aim is to identify ways of mitigating the Australian housing affordability crisis at an urban neighborhood level for sustainable development to house people on mid-to-low incomes. To participate in the survey, please go to https://www.surveymonkey.com/s/nextgenhousing

The questionnaire will take about 30-40 minutes so why take the time?
• All respondents will receive the full analysis summary
• All respondents who complete the questionnaire by 20th May 2011 will be entered into a prize draw for a $100 iTunes voucher.

Please don't hesitate to contact them with any queries or for further information go to www.tinyurl.com/nextgenhousing.

PCAL Developer’s Checklist

PIA members recently assisted in the review of the PCAL Developers Checklist. The Developer's Checklist is a companion document to the PCAL Designing Projects for Active Living Resource. It is a best practice, voluntary resource for developers to self-assess their development, provide a useful starting point for discussions with Consent Authorities, and respond to policy directions outlined in the NSW Department of Planning Position Statement: Planning for Active Living.

Copies of the Checklist are available on the PCAL website.

Employment

Positions vacant

There are numerous new jobs advertised in our Employment Directory. NSW vacancies range from part-time regional planning roles to urban/graphic designers and leadership positions.

View these and many more new NSW jobs here.

Feature your job ad here! Download our advertising specs.

Job seekers

A number of new recent graduates have added details of employment sought here: http://www.planning.org.au/employment/job-seekers

External courses

Last chance:

Climate change adaptation skills - AILA NSW Series 2011
Tuesday, 3 May, 9am-1.15pm, Circular Quay
Read more>>

Urban governance: cities, communities and workplaces
May 5, 6 and 19, 20 2011 (four days total), Parramatta
Read more>>

2011 World Planning Schools Congress

Early Bird Savings until 6 May
Details: 4 - 7 July, Perth
Read more>>

1st international conference on age-friendly cities

Building the World Health Organisation network
Details: 28-30 September, Dublin, Ireland
Read more>>

ASK GADENS

Do you have a burning planning or environmental law question? Each month the Gadens Team provides answers to 2 or 3 questions posed by readers of eNews. If you would like to submit a succinct question simply email it to Ask Gadens. Questions will be treated in confidence. To be added to Gadens mailing list to receive their free electronic updates & newsletters, please email Anthony.

Can an approval of a concept plan under Part 3A extend beyond the proponent’s property boundary and incorporate part of another person’s property (who has not provided owner’s consent), for example, as a road that is integral to the project continuing?

Clause 8F of the Environmental Planning & Assessment Regulation 2000 specifies that for Part 3A applications (including concept plan applications) the consent of all owners of land on which the project is to be carried out is to be obtained in all circumstances unless the application falls into one of the following exceptions: (a) the application is made by a public authority, (b) the application relates to a critical infrastructure project, a mining or petroleum production project or a linear infrastructure project, or (c) the application relates to a project on land with multiple owners designated by the Director-General for the purposes of clause 8F. Owner’s consent can be obtained at any time before the determination of the application. Therefore, an approval of a concept plan cannot lawfully approve development to take place on another person’s land if that person’s prior consent has not been obtained. Any attempt to do so would result in an unlawful approval.

However, if the Department has advised that the concept plan will not be approved without that other person’s land being utilised as a road or carriageway, and owner’s consent is not forthcoming, a way around this would be for the proponent to seek a Court-imposed easement over the land pursuant to section 88K of the Conveyancing Act 1919. Pursuant to section 88K, the Supreme Court may make an order imposing an easement over land if the easement is reasonably necessary for the effective use or development of other land that will have the benefit of the easement. Such an order may be made only if the Court is satisfied that: (a) use of the land having the benefit of the easement will not be inconsistent with the public interest, (b) the owner of the land to be burdened by the easement can be adequately compensated for any loss or other disadvantage that will arise, and (c) all reasonable attempts have been made by the applicant to obtain the easement. In order to resist such an order being made, the owner of the land would need to convince the Court that the easement is not reasonably necessary for the effective use or development of the applicant’s land, by demonstrating, for example, that there is an alternative road route that can be utilised, or that the construction of a road through the land is so unreasonable and offensive that no amount of compensation can adequately compensate them. The Land and Environment Court has similar powers whenever an appeal is on foot (s.40 of the Land and Environment Court Act).

Our Part 3A application for a commercial development was only lodged shortly before the election. What options are there for us to fast track an approval?

From a policy position, there is presently a great deal of ambiguity and confusion about how applications that fall into this category, being ones lodged shortly before the election, are to be treated. The Government has announced that it will repeal Part 3A. However new legislation and regulations will need to be prepared and approved in order for this to occur. In addition, the Premier’s Media Release on 4 April 2011 relating to Part 3A was contradictory and confusing in that it declares boldly “all new applications halted” but then goes on to actually say that no new applications for “private residential, commercial, retail or coastal development will be accepted”. This suggests that industrial developments for example, and non-private applications (made by Government), will still be accepted under Part 3A. Moreover the apparent refusal to accept Part 3A applications is technically illegal given that the Act has not been amended and therefore continues to provide a legal entitlement to lodge such applications.

Ultimately, new legislation and regulations will detail what is to occur with applications that were lodged prior to Part 3A’s repeal. Whether these applications are to be assessed as if the legislation has not been repealed, or assessed under part 4, or some other process, is all extremely uncertain. The public has been advised that transitional arrangements for those applications “already in the system” (which we understand to mean “up on the Department’s Part 3A web-site”) will be put in place. We are advised that the transitional arrangements will result in many existing applications being referred to the Planning Assessment Commission for assessment, and others being referred to local councils for determination. There have been no announcements on when these transitional arrangements will commence.

From a legal perspective, and until Part 3A is repealed or amended, the Government is obliged to continue to process applications. They could be ordered by the Court to do so (a ‘mandamus’ injunction). Otherwise, if the Government chooses not to, some proponents will have the option of appealing the deemed refusal of their Part 3A applications to the Land and Environment Court for determination. However deemed refusal appeal rights on Part 3A applications do not arise automatically after 40 days, but instead arise (confusingly) after certain variable trigger points in the assessment process (clause 8E of the Regulation). Therefore deemed refusal appeal rights are unlikely to arise where new applications are not being assessed at all, as those trigger points will not be reached.

Note: This information is provided to you for your information on a complimentary basis. The information provided is a general guide only and Gadens Lawyers accept no responsibility for any person relying on this publication without obtaining our express permission. Generally the particular facts and circumstances of any case will materially impact upon our opinions and will therefore be necessary before formal advice can be provided.

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Contact PIA NSW

State Manager Robyn Vincin
Policy Officer Cathy Towers
Administration Assistant Heather Johns
Business Development Coordinator Vivienne Reiner