Fisher’s planning for the future

Shortly after the NSW Government released its Green Paper in July 2012, Corinne Fisher attended a presentation on the proposal to overhaul the state’s planning laws.

And she was shocked.

“The thing that really got me very agitated was the question of fairness,” she says.

“I saw the proposals in the Green Paper as fundamentally unfair. I was worried about environmental protection because my profession was in the environmental field.”

Having worked early in her career as a flora and fauna consultant and as President of the Lane Cove Conservation and Bushland Society, Ms Fisher was well-placed to judge.

“I came home and I couldn’t sleep and the next morning I emailed people in the bushland society, and I said ‘we have to do something about this’,” Ms Fisher says.

“On August 26, 2012 we had a meeting, with about 30 groups represented, and at that meeting we decided to form a campaign called the Better Planning Network.”

The meeting laid the groundwork for a movement that has become a thorn in the side of the State Government and a development-driven planning department.

“We formed a leadership group for which people self-nominated and one of the first things we did was draft a two-page platform, which is on our website.

“We used this platform to contact community groups across the state which we felt might have similar concerns. Very rapidly the number of groups affiliated with us grew to a stage where we now have over 430 groups.”

Ms Fisher is convener of the Better Planning Network and is concerned that the proposed overhaul of NSW planning laws marks a shift away from consideration of ecological integrity. The proposed Planning Bill 2013 vastly diminshes community engagement at the latter stage of the planning process.

“In their definition, the State Government has purposefully excluded principles such as the ‘precautionary principle’, the ‘polluter pays’ principle and the conservation of ecological integrity, which are part of the current definition which was used in over 60 NSW statutes for ecologically sustainable development,” Ms Fisher says.

The ramifications of the bill are huge for inner Sydney. The decrepit state of urban affordable housing is already a topic of controversy, and the Planning Bill 2013 does not identify any affordable housing targets or value capture mechanisms.

“The bill actually delivers a worse deal than what we already have,” Ms Fisher says. “When the government is doing regional plans and sub-regional plans as part of strategic planning under the new bill, those plans are not required to identify any affordable housing targets.

“Under the current legislation, if a developer gets his land rezoned, they get windfall profit. That’s how developers make their money. They buy land under medium-density and they get it rezoned to high-density.

“Under the current bill, there are provisions to allow for some contributions from the developer towards affordable housing, as a result of the [developer’s] windfall profit. These are value capture mechanisms and the provisions have been removed under the new bill.”

The persistent lobbying of Ms Fisher and the Better Planning Network – comprising countless planning forums, consistent community engagement and detailed submissions to state politicians – has come to a head this week in the Upper House.

The Legislative Council will review the Planning Bill 2013 after it passed through the Lower House last month. The Liberal Party needs four more Legislative Council votes to pass the bill into legislation, but it is currently opposed by Labor, the Greens, and the Shooters and Fishers Party.

“The Shooters and Fishers have two MLCs and the Christian Democrats have two as well,” Ms Fisher says.

“The State Government needs both of them to obtain a majority. As far as we know and as far as their public statements are concerned, the Shooters and Fishers have said they are opposing the bill.”

The 41-year-old mother of two is pleased the work of the Better Planning Network has resulted in Legislative Council scrutiny.

“The campaign has been successful in raising community awareness and political awareness of the reforms and that is very gratifying,” Ms Fisher says. “We’re very proud to see the Legislative Council closely scrutinising the bill.

“That is a very positive development for our democracy and the future of this state. The Planning Bill 2013 is the most important piece of legislation that will go through parliament while the O’Farrell Government is in power.”