Glebe Society Endorses “Community Charter for Good Planning in NSW”

Glebe Society Planning Convenor Neil Macindoe reports that the Better Planning Network (BPN) has produced a Community Charter for Good Planning in NSW that lays down basic principles for good planning in our state.

Good planning may well be under unprecedented threat in NSW right now, as noted by the Society’s new President, Ted McKeown, in this Bulletin’s President’s Column.

The Management Committee of the Glebe Society has endorsed the Charter and is asking all members and friends to do the same. The full Charter is available here: http://web.archive.org/web/20160330211920/http://thecommunitycharter.org/the-community-charter-2/, but we have reproduced the main principles below. You can endorse the charter here: http://thecommunitycharter.org/individuals/.

Our vision

A planning system that thinks of both today and tomorrow; is built on fairness, equity and the concept of Ecologically Sustainable Development; guides quality development to the right places; ensures poorly designed developments and those in the wrong place don’t get built; and protects the things that matter, from open spaces, bushland and productive agricultural land to much-loved historic town centres and buildings.

Good planning is governed by the following principles:

• the well-being of the whole community, the environment and future generations across regional, rural and urban NSW;
• effective and genuine public participation in strategic planning and development decisions;
• an open, accessible, transparent and accountable, corruption-free planning system;
• the integration of land use planning with the provision of infrastructure and the conservation of our natural, built and cultural environment; and,
• objective, evidence-based assessment of strategic planning and development proposals.
• respects, values and conserves our natural environment and the services it provides;
• facilitates world-class urban environments with well-designed resource-efficient housing, public spaces and solar access that meet the needs of residents, workers and pedestrians;
• provides housing choice, including affordable housing and sufficient housing for the disadvantaged, in a diversity of locations;
• celebrates, respects and conserves our cultural (including Aboriginal) and built heritage;
• protects and sustainably manages our natural resources, including our water resources, fragile coastlines and irreplaceable agricultural land for the benefit of present and future generations while maintaining or enhancing ecological processes and biological diversity;
• retains and protects our crown lands, natural areas, landscapes and flora and fauna for the benefit of the people of NSW; and,
• gives local and regional communities a genuine and meaningful voice in shaping their local area and region, its character and the location, height and density of housing. Provides certainty and fairness to communities.

These principles will guide a planning system that:

• respects, values and conserves our natural environment and the services it provides;
• facilitates world-class urban environments with well-designed resource-efficient housing, public spaces and solar access that meet the needs of residents, workers and pedestrians;
• provides housing choice, including affordable housing and sufficient housing for the disadvantaged, in a diversity of locations;
• celebrates, respects and conserves our cultural (including Aboriginal) and built heritage;
• protects and sustainably manages our natural resources, including our water resources, fragile coastlines and irreplaceable agricultural land for the benefit of present and future generations while maintaining or enhancing ecological processes and biological diversity;
• retains and protects our crown lands, natural areas, landscapes and flora and fauna for the benefit of the people of NSW; and,
• gives local and regional communities a genuine and meaningful voice in shaping their local area and region, its character and the location, height and density of housing. Provides certainty and fairness to communities.