SOCIETY WORRIED ABOUT PLANNING CHANGES
The Fremantle Society has the No 1 letter in the West Australian about the planned changes to the local council planning process. Here it is:
The Fremantle Society is very concerned about State Government’s latest plans that will further erode the power of local communities to influence or decide their destiny. Sterile sameness will be the result of taking planning approval away from local Councils. The individuality and uniqueness of suburbs and the amenity of these will gradually disappear as the development industry does it business. For example, Fremantle is not Ferndale and Cottesloe is not Cullacabardee, so why mandate the removal of the tools that help create and maintain this identity.
The plans by Colin Barnett should worry all of us who believe in local government, community engagement and the essence of locality through local planning. Taking away more and more power from councils is a serious erosion…
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The WA Constitution says: “The Legislature shall maintain a system of local governing
bodies elected and constituted in such manner as the Legislature
may from time to time provide”.
The Executive is not the Legislature and self-evidently cannot legally re-constitute local governing bodies. However, if we as citizens are so disengaged or self-centred that they don’t care about the Executive getting around the intent of our laws with unprincipled trickery, then we will get what we deserve.