The NSW Greens have called for a Royal Commission into what it calls a “sickness” affecting planning in cities and towns across the state.
Calling for a Royal Commission to follow the forthcoming state election, the NSW Greens said on February 24 too often major developments were being approved without requisite support for public transport, schools, hospitals and public spaces.
“We can’t rely on politicians who are captured by the development industry,” Greens MP and spokesperson for planning David Shoebridge said. “We need a high profile intervention that works out how to rebuild trust.”
An independent report last week found multiple design and construction faults at Opal Tower in Sydney Olympic Park, where cracking appeared in concrete panels on Christmas Eve 2018. The Greens say the Opal fiasco is a symptom of a broken system, also to blame for increasing tension and stress in Sydney’s housing market, and increased congestion on roads.
“Sydney is being broken by unthinking, profit driven development that is entirely unplanned and this overwhelming our roads, crowding our schools,” Shoebridge said.
“It’s time to shine a light on the dark corners of the NSW Planning system, to save Sydney and to save this state from developers and their mates in Parliament.
“We need answers to how the political system has so fundamentally failed Sydney by approving more and more development without the schools, hospitals, parks and public transport people need.”
While Opal’s developer, Icon, said last week the building’s issues were unique, Shoebridge insists the problems with the state’s planning system are not isolated. “They run right through the rotten planning system in this state and they need root and branch reform to fix them.”