Committee recommends passage of Local Government Transparency Bill 

The Queensland Parliament’s Infrastructure, Planning and Natural Resources Committee has recommended the passage of the Local Government Electoral (Transparency and Accountability in Local Government) and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2016, with minor amendments.

The Property Council had provided a submission and presented evidence to the Committee’s inquiry into the legislation, raising industry’s concern with proposed planning and building amendments contained in the Bill.

The Bill will bring forward provisions within the new planning legislation for the retrospective commencement of temporary local planning instruments and the removal of the Court’s discretion to award costs, re-introducing pre-determined criteria for how costs are – or are not – awarded.

The Bill also proposes to introduce changes to the legislation to clarify the relationship between the State’s planning and building acts, based on the highly-publicised ‘Gerhardt’ court decisions.