Reviewing planning and development processes should be a periodic priority. for councils. Over recent years, there has been an increased focus on issues of integrity surrounding local government decision-making with a particular spotlight on planning and development. Councillors, professional planners as well as executive managers have found themselves embroiled in allegations of “corruption” or “misconduct in public office” and criticisms of poor performance for planning and development assessment. This of course can have major effects upon trust and reputation of a Council. Thankfully few of these allegations result in proven corrupt behaviour. In many instances however elected members and staff have been placed in the position of coming under suspicion or strong criticism as result of poor governance processes or deficiencies in planning and development decision-making frameworks.
The evolution of planning legislation and a tendency of planning departments to become complacent within the pressure of day-to-day processing, often leads to unintentional oversight of key good practice and procedures that provide assurance against allegations of bias, favouritism and just slow or poor decision-making. When was the last time your council initiated an independent audit of its planning and development functions? Often when things seem to be going well is the very time that quality assurance should be re-examined, so that nasty surprises are avoided.
With a strong track record in reviewing local government planning and development systems, Reinforcements Management Consulting can provide your Council with a current assessment of the effectiveness of its planning and development policies, processes and procedures to restore confidence in the integrity of its decision-making and the quality of service being provided.
Why do councils need to periodically review the planning and development functions? What might be some of the indicators that a review is desirable?
- Increasing negative feedback from the development industry.
- Criticism from the community about inadequacies of engagement and transparency in planning matters.
- Increasing costs of legal advice and representation in planning matters.
- Increasing numbers of planning appeals.
- Increasing concerns over growth management and land supply.
- Poor planning outcomes from otherwise normal development applications.
All of these things reflect the crucial need for a Council to ensure good governance is practised in these areas and, thereby, trust and positive reputation are achieved.
Our senior consultant in this area, David Broyd, would be happy to discuss any of your needs in these respects. David is a Life Fellow of the Planning Institute of Australia and a very experienced
local government manager and planner with over 30 years in planning and management, 20 years at executive levels in local government. David has a deep and broad knowledge of planning legislation, systems and practices and of the political environments in which they operate at both state and local levels. He has strong motivation to support quality of processes to deliver high quality of service delivery in planning and development assessment.
Contact Details:
David Broyd Phone: 0419 142 350 Email:
[See our Project Portfolio page for references to reviewing panning and development processes]