Rosalie Woodruff MP | Greens Planning spokesperson
The Greens will move to defer the bill that enables a statewide planning scheme until the government releases the full scheme, and it has been properly consulted upon.
Minister Gutwein is asking us to sign off on legislation that doesn’t have any real detail. It is fundamental that Parliament has all the information before it is asked to pass a bill into law.
The Minister would have the final say on local planning decisions and on what areas can be protected. Minister Gutwein is asking MPs and MLCs to give him the power be Tasmania's planning overlord.
Under the proposed scheme, local councils would have a say on what the new rules look like, but any decisions could still be over-ruled by the Minister. It would mean political agendas running Tasmania's planning system.
The government and their Planning Reform Taskforce have spent a year redesigning the planning system to suit their needs. The Taskforce has been hand-picked by the Minister, and has operated completely outside of the normal planning process.
The government has an agenda to open Tasmania up to developers. We need to be wary that in the rush we don’t lose the character of Tasmanian towns.