Background
September 2022
July 2020
At the Ordinary Meeting of the Sunshine Coast Regional Council held on 23 July 2020 the DA from Stockland was considered by Councillors. The Council Officers recommended approval of the DA but Councillors in fact voted to refuse the application.
The vote to refuse the DA in relation to Twin Waters West was passed; current Councillors voted as follows:
For: Baberowski, Natoli, Johnston, Dickson, Hungerford, J O’Pray, Suarez, Law
Against: Landsberg, Cox
Did not vote: Jamieson – Conflict of Interest declaration
April 2017
At the Special Council Meeting of the SCRC held on 13 April 2017 a number of major planning amendment were debated. These debates and the reports that were considered were done in confidential sessions; the Council’s right to move into confidential session is technically consistent with legislation but contrary to the spirit of the local government principles enshrined in the Local Government Act. OSCAR opposes the use of confidential sessions except in special circumstances – amendments to the Planning Scheme do not constitute special circumstances! Interestingly, subsequent changes to legislation in Queensland now prevents councils considering Planning Scheme amendments in closed sessions.
The vote to proceed with the amendment in relation to Twin Waters West was passed; current Councillors voted as follows:
For: Baberowski, Cox, Dickson, Jamieson
Against: Hungerford, O’Pray
OSCAR decided to make a Right To Information (RTI) application to obtain the Report and Submissions that were tabled in the Council meeting; documents that the public should have always had access to. This exercise cost OSCAR $640 but we were able to obtain the documents we sought for Round 2A Amendment to Sunshine Coast Planning Scheme 2014 – Twin Waters West.
Ironically, the documents we received were as tabled except for the names of individuals and organisations that made submissions – information we did not seek nor desire. This makes us wonder why the documents, and in fact the meeting session itself, needed to be confidential in the first place.