Mega muddle in Marion
In a disturbing coincidence which underscores yesterday’s Grumpy tirade about the Local Government Association’s failure to fight for council control of development in their members’ bailiwick, comes another example of the Hampton Court Maze that is the State’s so-called planning rules.
In a swingeing attack on Marion Council’s part in the fiasco besetting Chris and Deborah Fleetwood, columnist David Penberthy (on page 13 of the Tiser, reveals the Alice in Wonderland scenario facing the hapless couple.
Having been given…on three separate occasions…permission from the Council’s own Development Assessment Panel to build their $680,000 dream, the couple has now been told that the go-ahead should never have been granted. So the building must come down.
The whole sorry saga underscores the need for a complete rethink of who has control over domestic development…rather than the ludicrous situation of it being in the hands of far-flung outsiders. The LGA is apparently and totally helpless in the issue.
For example…and the situation is to worsen in the near future… just ONE of Unley’s Development Assessment Panel is a Councillor, whereas in past years ALL Elected Members (with intimate knowledge of local conditions ) sat as an effective planning committee.
Meanwhile, Mr Penberthy is not too kind on the master-minds of Marion, as well as suggesting, quite rightly, that both sides of politics should revisit the question of planning reform to ensure that those involved are professional and consistent.
