In my last post I presented an overview of the regulations relating to building in bush fire prone areas, with references to several relevant documents. It’s a little difficult to draw from that a simple list of building requirements, because specifications are somewhat dependent on the threat level assessed at a given location. For those wishing to simply improve existing structures, which are not subject to current regulations, there are nonetheless some guidelines that can be followed. (more…)
The QPR Blog
…local government stuff you never even thought to ask about…
More About Bush Fire Prone Land
I was asked recently about issues relating to building in bush fire prone areas. Although I have written about this previously, given the time of the year, and as this is a subject that is related to recent posts relating to planning matters, it seemed quite an appropriate subject for further discussion. (more…)
Planning Legislation (Coda)
The Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EPAA) has always supported a hierarchical approval structure that was intended to provide appropriate levels of transparency in the assessment process, balancing the interests of all parties involved without burdening the vast majority of applications with unnecessary bureaucratic red tape. (more…)
Planning Legislation
Following on from the earlier post relating to Land Use Planning, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EPAA) of 1979 was the first piece of legislation that was directed purely at the management of land use planning in NSW. Prior to this, land use had generally been managed through Planning Scheme Ordinances created under Part XIIA (Town and Country Planning Schemes) of the Local Government Act. (more…)
Land Use Planning
Following on from an earlier post on the history of Local Government in NSW, one significant change introduced with the Local Government Act of 1906 was a move away from a rating system that was based solely on the ability to pay to one that also recognised the benefit derived from public expenditure in areas such as road building and maintenance. Rates thus became an incentive to develop, with undeveloped land attracting the same rate as a neighbouring property that had been cleared and built upon. (more…)
Local Government
In reading up on the history of land use planning in NSW, I came across an interesting article on the development of local government. This proved to be a subject worthy of discussion in its own right, but also an appropriate preamble to a future discussion of land use planning. (more…)
Regional Strategic Planning
While State and Local Government strategic planning can be a bit of dry subject at times, the recent release of the NSW South East and Tablelands Regional Plan 2036 seemed like an opportune time to take a brief look at the way that State-level strategic planning filters down into the local government arena. (more…)
Bush Fire Prone Land
As we head into the summer months, I thought it might be worth looking at some of the specific conditions associated with development in areas prone to bush fire. (more…)
The Only Constant is Change…
I guess it can’t be said to have come as a great surprise, but as I have said elsewhere, it was certainly a disappointing outcome, to say the least. With independent financial advice provided to both Councils indicating that a merger would be ill-advised, and in the face of the recommendation from the Independent Local Government Review Panel that mergers should proceed only where they can be shown to make, amongst other things, a “substantial contribution to addressing financial problems” the NSW Government went its own way. (more…)
Local Government Reform (Update 01/16)
They say a week’s a long time in politics, and local government in NSW is no exception at the moment. The local government reform process has moved rather quickly since IPART released its assessment of NSW Councils back in November. (more…)