Post-political planning in Sydney : a turn in the wrong direction

The New South Wales (NSW) Environmental Planning and Assessment Act (EPAA) was promulgated in 1979 to simplify the planning process, to pay particular attention to ecological sustainability and to improve community consultation in planning matters. In the four decades since its inception, the EPAA has been amended more than 150 times. The changes to the planning system have mostly revolved around the decision-making process, the unmistakeable struggle for control between the State and Local Government and the attempts to shift to a post-political/ managerial planning system. The delegation of substantial decision-making powers to Local Government by the EPAA on its inception forced the State Government to work collaboratively with Local Government. In practice, however, this has proven difficult for the NSW State Government. In this paper, we will draw attention to some of the decision-making reforms that have dominated the planning system debate in NSW, how they have created legitimacy questions and stronger opposition to planning decisions, and how a shift to a post-political decision-making system is being used to overcome the power and legitimacy of collaborative planning and to re-concentrate the decision-making powers in the political hierarchies. We conclude that the change to the post-political system of the past decade is a move in the wrong direction. The most recent amendment to the EPAA regarding the compulsory use of the Independent Hearing and Assessment Panels (IHAP) in all Sydney metropolitan councils, hides political influences within the decision-making process and is another means of eliminating or undermining the democratic scrutiny that comes with the exercise of political powers. These changes with time could create a risk to the integrity of the profession.