The Community Participation Plan details when Council will engage with the community across the planning functions performed under the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979. The overall aim of the draft Community Participation Plan is to enhance opportunities for the community to participate in planning decisions and guide planning outcomes.
Previously, this information has been included in Council's Community Engagement Strategy(External link). This document, details Council's approach including the guiding values and principles for engagement, levels of engagement which are aligned with the International Association for Public Participation (IAP2) Spectrum, and the methods of engagement including an action plan for that term of Council.
The Community Engagement Strategy also outlined how the community and stakeholders will be engaged on land use planning and development control matters, including detailing exhibition and notification periods for strategic planning.
Council has prepared the Draft Parkes Shire Community Participation Plan to allow for the removal of Council's development application and strategic land use planning notification process and public exhibition requirements from the Community Engagement Strategy document. They are now included in a stand-alone document, referred to as the Community Participation Plan.
In preparing the Draft Parkes Community Participation Plan, Council has reviewed and updated the existing public notification and exhibition requirements for developments in the Parkes Shire. The aim is to provide greater clarity around the types of applications that are notified and exhibited and reduce any unnecessary delays in the development assessment process, where a development complies with Council Development Control Plan requirements.
On Tuesday 19 April 2022, Council endorsed the draft Parkes Community Participation Plan for public exhibition. We are now inviting the community to provide feedback on the draft Parkes Community Participation Plan.
To have your say, please review the Draft Community Participation Plan and share any comments you have via Council's Your Say Parkes engagement platform.
