Full description
The NSW Planning Assessment Commission was a statutory body established under section 23B (1) of the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Act No.203, 1979) and was established as part of the New South Wales Government’s planning reforms in November 2008. It began operations on 3 November 2008. (1)
The Commission was independent of the Government, the Minister and the Department of Planning. Commission members were appointed by the Minister for Planning, however they were not subject to the direction or control of the Minister, except in relation to the Commission’s administrative procedures. (2)
The Commission’s functions included the determination of project applications when those matters were delegated to it by the Minister for Planning, and the provision of independent expert advice to the Minister on a range of planning and development matters. The Commission played an important role in improving transparency and independence in the planning and decision making process of the government of New South Wales. The existence of such a body provided an additional level of expert scrutiny in the review or determination of some major development proposals, particularly those where a potential or perceived conflict of interest existed. (3)
The Independent Planning Commission was established as a standalone agency under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 2017 (Act No.60, 2017) on 1 March 2018. It replaced the Planning Assessment Commission. (4) The Independent Planning Commission constituted under the Act was to be taken for all purposes, including the rules of private international law, to be a continuation of, and the same legal entity as, the Planning Assessment Commission established under section 23B of the Act immediately before the repeal of that section by the amending Act. (5)
The functions of the Independent Planning Commission under the Act were as follows:
(a) the functions of the consent authority under Part 4 for State significant or other development that are (subject to this Act) conferred on it under this Act;
(b) any functions under this Act that are delegated to the Commission;
(c) to advise the Minister or the Planning Secretary on any matter on which the Minister or the Planning Secretary requests advice from the Commission;
(d) to hold a public hearing into any matter into which the Minister requests the Commission to hold a public hearing;
(e) any function of a Sydney district or regional planning panel or a local planning panel in respect of a particular matter that the Minister requests the Commission to exercise (to the exclusion of the panel);
(f) if a Sydney district or regional planning panel has not been appointed for any part of the State, any function that is conferred on any such panel under an environmental planning instrument applicable to that part or that is otherwise conferred on any such panel under this Act;
(g) any other function conferred or imposed on it under this or any other Act. (6)
In 2019 the NSW Productivity Commission conducted a review of the Independent Planning Commission (IPC). The review recommended several actions to streamline processes to optimise efficiency, output and performance. The key changes to the IPC included: establishing the IPC as a separate and independent agency, with its chair accountable to the Minister for Planning and Public Spaces and responsible for delivering on the Government's agreed objectives and performance measures; clarifying roles — with the IPC to act as a decision-maker on the State's most controversial projects rather than re-assessing the Department's technical work; eliminating bureaucratic double handling with the introduction of a single-stage public hearing process; ensuring only the most complex and contentious projects are referred to the IPC by raising the referral threshold to 50 unique community objections; and introducing accountability benchmarks for decision-making timeframes to ensure timely determinations. (7) The IPC was formally established as a separate public agency by the Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes-Regional NSW and Independent Planning Commission) Order 2020 as of 1 July 2020. (8)
Endnotes
1. Planning Assessment Commission, Annual Report, 2008/2009, p.3; Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2008 (Act No.36, 2008) amending the Principal Act, the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979 (Act No.203, 1979).
2. Ibid., 2009/2010, p.5.
3. Ibid., 2009/2010, p.5.
4. Environmental Planning and Assessment Amendment Act 2017 (Act No.60, 2017), Div. 2.3 cl.2.7.
5. Ibid, Sch.13 Pt.2 cl.7 (1).
6. Ibid, Pt.2 Div.2.3 cl.2.9.
7. Independent Planning Commission website, https://www.ipcn.nsw.gov.au/about-us/history-of-independent-planning-bodies (accessed 7 December 2022).
8. Administrative Arrangements (Administrative Changes-Regional NSW and Independent Planning Commission) Order 2020.
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