Planning Matters! public meeting: ALP, Greens confirm as speakers, Minister Gutwein offers apologies

The ALP and Greens’ spokespeople on Planning have agreed to address Tuesday’s public meeting on the Government’s proposed statewide planning scheme, whilst Planning Minister Peter Gutwein, set to receive a report from the Tasmanian Planning commission in early December, has offered his apologies and declined to attend.

Twenty community and environment groups are calling the public meeting to highlight and discuss Minister Gutwein’s proposals regarding planning law reform and the disturbing trend towards weakening protections and assessment rigour, lessening public engagement and restricting the capacity for thirty party rights of appeal. The meeting is to be held on ‘World Town Planning Day’, this Tuesday 8th November.

ALP spokesperson Madeline Ogilvie and Greens spokesperson Rosalie Woodruff will join RMIT Professor in Environment and Planning Michael Buxton and much-loved expert in conservation ecology Distinguished Professor Jamie Kirkpatrick from the University of Tasmania.

“Minister Gutwein is proposing the most significant changes to planning law for decades and many people across the Tasmanian community are alarmed and have concerns about what it will mean for their backyards and bush,” said Sophie Underwood, member of the Freycinet Action Network, one of the groups hosting the meeting.

“We’ve invited elected representatives from each of the political parties as this is a profound issue that will shape the face of Tasmania’s future. While it is unfortunate Minister Gutwein cannot attend, we welcome hearing the views of the ALP and Greens.

“Effective and equitable planning reform needs sound policy principles from which to consult with the community and create a framework everyone can trust and engage in. Planning laws will shape the cities, towns and bushland of Tasmania’s future, they need to be strong, fair and protect the unique qualities that sets Tasmania apart from the rest of Australia,” said Sophie Underwood.

Event details:
PLANNING MATTERS! Public meeting
1.10 pm, Tuesday 8th November
Town Hall, Hobart

Organising groups are: Bay of Fires Coastal Preservation Lobby, Beaumaris Action Network, BirdLife Tasmania, Blackmans Bay Residents Action Group, Environment Tasmania, Freycinet Action Network, Friends of Four Mile Creek, Friends of the Blue Tier, Friends of the East Coast, North East Bioregional Network, Precinct 33 Amendments Group, Seymour Community Action Group, South Hobart Progress Association, Southern Beaches Conservation Society, Tasmanian Conservation Trust, Tasmanian National Parks Association, Tasmanian Planning Information Network, The Bob Brown Foundation, The Wilderness Society, Woodbridge Community Association.
Vica Bayley Tasmanian Campaign Manager The Wilderness Society (Tasmania) Inc.