The Wire

The NSW Minister for planning, Frank Sartor, is currently pushing through a legislation that would strip local councils from their legal right to control potential developments. Some argue that development issues should be solved on a local level, but the Minister says that the existing system is slow and inefficient. The proposed amendments were approved by Parliament’s lower house earlier this week, and will be considered by the upper house at the end of this month. The Wire’s Hagar Cohen spoke to Genia McCaffery, the President of Local Government and Shires Association, and Alex Gooding, Executive Director of Western Sydney Regional Organizations of Councils.