Community planning services in Glenelg Shire Council : 1998-2005 ...

Did the council have appropriate management arrangements for the delivery of its planning services? 91
For example, council planning permits may be overturned at VCAT or in a
court of law, after development work has commenced. This means council
ratepayers could be exposed to considerable costs, including restoring the
property to its former state and compensating the developer for costs.
4.6 Community consultation processes
An objective of the Act is to ensure the strategic and orderly use and
development of land with regard to community interests. The way most
councils determine community interests is through appropriate consultation
processes.
The objective of engaging the community in the planning process is reflected
in the council’s vision and strategies.
The Glenelg Council Plan 2004-08 outlines the council’s vision, which includes
the comment that it “will strive to achieve respectful and inclusive
consultation with our communities”.
The plan includes a number of strategies and proposed actions designed to
achieve the council’s objectives, including:
a program of community consultation on specific major issues, including
planning
a process that enables consultation at an early stage of the planning
process.
The council has also developed a Community Engagement Strategy, which
identified several strategies to improve the council’s engagement with the
community.
4.6.1 Conclusion
At the strategic level, the community has been informed of, and involved in,
the planning process. However, at the operational planning level, this has not
been the case. The council often made planning decisions without notifying
relevant parties, and specific issues where the public could not get resolution
from the council were taken to VCAT for resolution.