Council leads four information sessions across the Tweed from next week

Information sessions about the NSW Planning White Paper will be held across the Tweed from next week.

The White Paper - A New Planning System for NSW was released by the NSW Government on 16 April, along with two Exposure Bills, the Planning Bill 2013 and the Planning Administration Bill 2013 which are designed to implement the legislative framework for the new planning system.

The sessions, hosted by Tweed Shire Council, will highlight the major reforms to the NSW planning system proposed in the White Paper, to assist local residents, organisations and businesses make a more informed submission.

All sessions will run from 6pm-7.30pm and will be held at the following venues:

• Tweed Heads - Tuesday 21 May at Tweed Heads Civic Centre Auditorium.

• Banora Point - Wednesday 22 May at Banora Point Community Centre.

• Murwillumbah - Thursday 23 May at Murwillumbah Civic Centre Auditorium.

• Kingscliff - Tuesday 28 May at the Sustainable Living Centre (Altona Road, off Crescent Street, Cudgen).

There is no need to book for these sessions.

Mayor of Tweed, Councillor Barry Longland, said the information sessions would outline some of the key proposals in the White Paper.

"The White Paper proposes some of the biggest reforms to planning in NSW for 30 years and Council want to make sure Tweed residents and businesses don't miss the opportunity to have their say," Councillor Longland said.

"There's a lot to read and absorb in the White Paper, so Council has taken the initiative to organise local information sessions to go through some of the themes and details.

"The sessions will be held at venues across the Tweed to allow as many people as possible to attend.

"Those who can't attend or wish to explore the issues further are encouraged to visit the Department of Planning's dedicated White Paper website www.planning.nsw.gov.au/a-new-planning-system-for-nsw.

"In addition, the 'Meeting in a Box' toolkit available on the website provides everything a community group needs to conduct their own meeting on the White Paper, including agendas, attendance sheets, suggested questions and an evaluation form," Councillor Longland said.

"The changes proposed in the White Paper are a major departure from our current system so now is the time to join the discussion and then have your say through a submission," he said.

Some of the major reforms proposed in the White Paper include:

• A change in planning culture will be necessary to implement the new planning system, and the White Paper proposes a restructure and other changes to the Department of Planning and Infrastructure, and a greater emphasis on performance monitoring and outcomes at all levels.

• Increased community participation at the start of the planning process and participation on an ongoing basis, as guided by a 'Community Participation Charter, whereby planning authorities will be under a duty to act consistently with the charter and will also be required to adopt a community participation plan, setting out the community participation methods for plan making and development assessment processes undertaken by the authority.

• A greater emphasis on evidence based, up-front, strategic planning, with a more streamlined hierarchy of State, regional, sub-regional and local plans.

• A more streamlined development assessment system, moving to a 'performance based system', and making greater use of code complying development. Eighty per cent of all developments, including a range of residential, commercial, retail and industrial, are proposed to be complying or code assessment within the next five years. It is proposed that there will be no adjoining or surrounding neighbour notification of Code complying developments.

• A major revision of the existing developer contributions system, closely aligned with broader land use planning, and planning and delivery for housing and employment.

• A 'more robust, consistent and transparent' system for regulation and certification of building.

The Council-led sessions are in addition to the community forum to be conducted by the NSW Department of Planning on Thursday 6 June from 6pm-7.30pm at the Ballina RSL Club. Bookings are required.

For more information about the Planning White Paper and to book for the Ballina community forum, visit the website www.planning.nsw.gov.au/a-new-planning-system-for-nsw

Submissions on the White Paper close on 28 June 2013.