New appointments have been made to the Local Planning Panel after the current members’ term expired on June 30.
The independent panel decides on a range of development applications (DAs) on behalf of Central Coast Council.
The new panel appointments were endorsed by Administrator Rik Hart on July 23 after being chosen by the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces Paul Scully.
Scully nominated former Labor politician and former judge of the Land and Environment Court Terry Sheahan as Chair and deputies Jason Perica and Heather Warton for the Central Coast panel.
Sheahan entered the NSW Parliament in November 1973 as the Member for Burrinjuck, in the NSW Southern Highlands.
Neville Wran became Premier in 1976 and in 1980 Sheahan became Minister for Housing.
He variously became Minister for Planning and the Environment, Minister for Energy, Finance, Attorney General and finally Minister for Transport before he left Parliament in 1988.
In 1997, became a Judge in the Land and Environment Court.
Scully thanked Council for its “ongoing co-operation in supporting the independence and efficient operation of its panel”.
As well as choosing the Chair and deputies, the State Government draws up a list of professional panel members the council can draw from while the council gets to choose its own community representatives.
Each panel meeting includes the chair, two professional members with expertise in urban design, urban planning, or other related fields, and one community representative.
Required background checks on the panel and other administrative processes are currently underway in accordance with State Ministerial Directions, Council said.
It is anticipated that the new team will meet before the end of August.
The new panel’s term expires at the end of June 2027.
The panel makes decisions on developments where there is concern that a development assessment may be compromised – such projects usually have an estimated development cost of $5M-$30M and include: proposed projects that receive a high number of complaints; proposed projects that are sensitive – for example, they involve the demolition of heritage buildings or the destruction of other community assets; and projects that have strategic importance to the state.
Members of the public who have written submissions on development applications can address the panel when it holds its meeting to make a decision on a DA.
Where a DA is the subject of fewer than than 10 objections, the panel can hold a closed panel meeting.
The councillors voted to adopt a Local Planning Panel in May 2020, saying they had no option after it was proposed by the State Government.
Administrator Hart has sent a personal letter to the inaugural Chair Donna Rygate and panel members thanking them for their work over the last four years.
The panel has only ever held panel meetings electronically except for one meeting held at Wyong council offices in 2023.
See that story here: https://coastcommunitynews.com.au/central-coast/news/2023/08/palm-grove-dog-breeding-facility-to-close/