Changes to Local Planning Panels

The NSW Government made changes to the way Local and Regional Planning Panels work to make them more efficient and to improve the assessment and determination times of development applications. These changes are part of the Planning Acceleration Program to support the state’s immediate and long-term economic recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.

The changes, which commenced on 1 August 2020, aim speed up panel determinations by:

• reducing the need to conduct public panel meetings for non-contentious matters by applying a ‘10-or-more’ objection trigger for public meetings 
• allow, at the chair's discretion, applicants to attend a Panel briefing, along with council staff, where a compelling case has been made regarding the necessity, to explain complex matters or present confidential or commerically sensitive material
• reducing the amount of modifications going to panels
• obliging panel chairs to more actively manage development applications (DAs) coming to the panels to reduce deferrals and assessment timeframes
• allowing chairs to bring forward determination on DAs that are experiencing unreasonable delays of over 180 days from lodgement
• introducing panel performance measures.

Please visit DPE LPP web page for more information.

Attending and speaking at CCLPP meetings

As detailed above, under Meetings, neither members of the public, applicants nor Panel members are currently permitted by the NSW Government to attend meetings in person.

Please visit DPE LPP web page for more information.

Members of the public who wish to address the Panel must have already lodged a written submission on the subject development, unless the Chair otherwise permits, and should submit a Request to Speak form  to the Local Planning Panel Secretariat at localplanningpanel@centralcoast.nsw.gov.au. All individuals (or group representatives) who would like to speak at the meeting must complete this form, and it must be received no later than 12 noon on the day prior to the scheduled Local Planning Panel meeting.

Central Coast Local Planning Panel meetings are broadcast live to the public and recorded. By attending a CCLPP meeting you are giving consent to the possibility that your image and voice may also be broadcast to the world. Recordings are Copyright protected and are accessible under the Government Information (Public Access) Act. No other recording is permitted.

Webcasting

Watch the meeting livestream.

Please note that confidential parts of a Local Planning Panel meeting will not be webcast.

The webcast of Local Planning Panel meetings is not, and shall not, be taken to be an official record of Central Coast Council or of any meeting or discussion depicted therein. Central Coast Council does not accept liability for any defamatory remarks or inappropriate comments that are made during the course of a meeting. Recordings of CCLPP meetings are copyright protected and cannot be reused or reproduced without approval from Council.