COUNCIL VISIT: Burwood Council General Manager Tommaso Briscese, Mayor Cr John Faker, LGNSW President Cr Darriea Turley AM, and LGNSW Chief Executive David Reynolds.

31 October 2023

Not long now until our Annual Conference

There are fewer than two weeks to go before we come together at Rosehill Gardens for the LGNSW Annual Conference.

The all-important consideration of motions, which shape our sector's policy direction for the coming year, will take place on Monday 13 November 2023.

To help registered voting delegates prepare, the conference business paper is now available to download.

Please note, there are two categories of motions:

• Category 1: Motions for debate and consideration by Conference
• Category 2: Motions already consistent with existing LGNSW positions (so do not require a new conference resolution for LGNSW to take action).

You can find the business paper and further information on motions online.

I look forward to seeing you at the conference from Sunday 12 November.

Housing roundtable

I have written to the Premier, Minister for Housing, and Minister for Planning and Public Spaces proposing a housing roundtable involving the local government sector, the NSW Government and developers. Link to media release here

All councils want to work collaboratively with the NSW Government to ease the housing crisis. So, it is disappointing to see the continued, disingenuous scapegoating of councils.

Official data is clear that:

• councils are approving 97 per cent of all DAs
• Councils have met 2022/23 state housing targets by approving more than 85,095 dwellings
• Far more development applications are being approved than builds commencing: the figures for the past two financial years show 103,460 DAs determined, but only 83,419 construction certificates lodged
• Even fewer homes are being completed: over that 24-month period only 70,886 occupation certificates were requested.

The significant disparity between approved DAs and construction certificates showed the failure of private developers to build the homes that had already been approved, and land banking is a significant problem.

So, in writing to the NSW Government, I have proposed a roundtable involving the local government sector, State Government ministers, senior planning bureaucrats and developers.

Communities want housing growth and lower prices, supported by critical local infrastructure such as roads, public transport, parks, public schools and hospitals.

It’s time to stop the pointless and misleading sniping and focus on working together to develop and implement sensible, workable solutions in the best interest of all.

Vale Peter Abbott

It’s with great sadness that I have to report the passing of former Cobar Mayor Peter Abbott at the age of 77.

Mr Abbott was a larger-than-life character in Cobar for the past 54 years, since moving there from Sydney in 1969.

Despite being a mining engineer by trade, Mr Abbott didn't stay in the mining industry for long and branched out owning a pub and a newsagency in Cobar for almost 23 years.

He was first elected to council in August 2014, becoming deputy mayor six months later, a role he held until 2021, when he was elected as mayor, a position he held until September this year.

My sincere condolences to his wife, Carol, and family on behalf of the whole local government community.

A memorial service will be held on Friday 3 November at 12 noon at Cobar Bowling and Golf Club to celebrate Peter’s life.

Sincerely,

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