Local Government in the spotlight

Local Government is in the spotlight with several important initiatives announced recently which aim to improve the efficiency and increase transparency of local governments in WA.

Review of the Local Government Act

The WA Government has announced a review of the Local Government Act. The Minister for Local Government, David Templeman launched a consultation paper for the review of the Act and is seeking public comment on a range of issues including:

·         Councilor conduct

·         Local government transparency and accountability; and

·         Accessibility of public information through the use of technology

The Department of Local Government, Sport and Cultural Industries has prepared the consultation paper and will be conducting 14 workshops across the State to promote the paper review and provide opportunities for people to have their say.

The consultation is open for public comment until February 9, 2018. To register for a workshop or make your own online submission, click here

The Property Council will be making a submission to the State Government, if you wish to contribute, please send feedback to WA Policy and Communications Advisor Sadie Davidson at [email protected]

Industry round-table with the Minister of Local Government

The Property Council attended a round-table discussion with other industry groups and the Minister for Local Government, David Templeman at the WA Local Government Association.

This was an opportunity for the Property Council to raise important issues impacting industry with the Minister. These included:

·         Timeliness of local planning schemes and strategies

·         Facilitation of retirement living and aged care developments in local planning strategies

·         More public reporting of local government planning performance

·         More uniform local planning regulations

·         Mandatory training of elected councilors; and

·         The urgent need for full private certification of building permit applications

Benchmarking Greater Local Government Report

The Property Council is conducting a second Benchmarking Greater Perth Planning Systems Report is to be released in early 2018.

The report is a follow up of an earlier report Benchmarking Local Governments released in 2016, that ranked each metropolitan local government’s based on its planning performance.

The report will provide the opportunity for local Governments to show the improvements made in their planning systems as well as high lighting where more work needs to be done.

Additionally, the new report will shine a light on the interdependence between local and State Government and agencies and will demonstrate how this process can be improved.

For more information please contact WA Policy and Communications Advisor Sadie Davidson at [email protected]