NICK EBBECK spread his arms wide and apologised from the
bottom of his mayoral heart. Ku-ring-gai Municipal Council had failed to notify
residents in Roseville Chase that a man wanted to open a gun shop across the
road from a child-care centre.
A decade ago few would have blinked about such a shop, but
international terrorism and mass shootings have heightened people’s fear of
firearms.
Last Tuesday night 200 seething residents vented their
collective spleens. Mr Ebbeck tried his best, admitted fault and promised
better. Then he told the crowd that 1000 signatures opposing the shop for
“the emotional reasons that you don’t like it” would have made no
difference because of state laws.
In an era of one-size-fits-all planning rules that do not
distinguish between cake shops and gun shops, it would have been a waste of
time to consult residents.
The smidgen of goodwill in the room disappeared: how dare
he denigrate their opposition as merely emotional? Government on a state and
local level had dismissed constituents as irrelevant.
International events may have permeated local politics,
but across Sydney
this week residents are fighting an array of issues that irritate their
neighbourhoods. They don’t want poolside cafes, dumped shopping trolleys, noisy
pubs and restaurants, overlit hospitals or pooing dogs in local parks.
But are they being heard by governments that seek more
streamlined decision-making?
Tony Reisce, the president of Save Our Suburbs, insists
the community is losing its voice.
“There had been a general move away from community
having a say in favour of centralised authorities. The Roseville gun shop issue shows that the
community is being left out of the equation … How can a mayor say their
opinions are irrelevant?”
The Minister for Planning and former lord mayor of the
City of Sydney,
Frank Sartor, insists that
communities are being misled by local politicians who are inflating
expectations.
“The degree of public consultation has grown to a
point where it is almost dishonest,” he said. “The expectations have
been built up to a point where they [residents] think they make the decisions.
They don’t. Public consultation is vital, but you can’t pretend.”
Mr Sartor is at loggerheads with councils over planning
law changes that continue to remove decisions from local authorities. He now
wants panels of experts to replace councillors where they are not meeting
benchmarks for development application approval rates.
The Mayor of North Sydney, Genia McCaffery, disagrees.
“Communities live with planning decisions after the planners and the
developers have moved on. The [Environmental Planning and Assessment] Act
placed the community right at the centre of the planning system and now it’s
moving away again.
“If you consult people properly, design the process
to allow people to have their say then the vast majority will be satisfied,
even if they don’t get their way. They get angry when they are given no
opportunity to have a say and their views are not considered.”
The Lord Mayor of the City of Sydney, Clover
Moore, runs “village” forums for residents to talk
to council staff – from engineers to community service officers and parks and
garden staff – and be briefed on council projects.
Waverley Municipal Council has expert panels for some
contentious projects. Residents can make submissions and the panel makes
recommendations, but the council makes the final decision.
The Mayor, George Newhouse, says it would be a mistake to
take the process any further: “Frank Sartor
says the panel takes the politics out of decision-making, but it is the
politicians who have to wear the results. That’s why we should have the
ultimate say.”
Parramatta City Council has 2000 volunteer residents who
are regularly polled or participate in forums, sometimes en masse or in
demographic or geographic groups. The Mayor, David Borger, says the surveys
have been invaluable. And people get heard: “We need to start engaging
with residents, not disengaging.”
Roseville Chase residents would no doubt agree.