30 November, 2020
I’ve been thinking about what Council might do during the extension period. Please note these are just my thoughts, and are not based on any information from Council.
Option 1:
-They realise they need to remove the Strategies from public exhibition.
-They engage with the community better - including community meetings - so the forward planning strategies include the community views on their futures.
-They use this time to better understand concerns and impacts.
-They use this time to engage correct consultants for studies and on ground surveys.
-They provide actual information about what the proposal means to each landholder based on their own holding, including what can and can’t be done, which SEPP’s are accessible and which aren’t, which land will no longer have a building entitlement, etc.
-Once better, more robust, evidence based strategies are drafted, they reopen the Strategies for comment.
Option 2:
They do the above with the exception points 1 and 6.
Option 3:
They don’t do any of the above but continue to engage with the community on an as-needs basis. They talk about reviewing the proposals and taking into consideration landholders concerns.
They wait until the ‘consultation’ period closes (1 Feb) to redraft the proposals to include all the submissions. Presentation to Council would be later - maybe April, but possibly a bit later.
Option 4:
They continue to engage with the community on an as-needs basis, but they continue to re-write the proposal, during the consultation period, using feedback they’ve received so far. They present the final draft to Council at the February (maybe March) meeting. They may even present 'interim' reports to council meetings in December and/or January.
While I would love for Option 1 to be preferred approach (or even Option 2), I think (more realistically) they will proceed with Option 4.
Any thoughts?