Kellie Sloane
Leader of the Opposition
Scott Farlow
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces
The Opposition has called today for the Planning Department's independent review of all developments that have been approved through the Housing Delivery Authority (HDA) to be made public in the interests of community confidence in the planning system.
583 expressions of interest have been assessed by the HDA since its first meeting in February this year and today's revelations that a senior planning official used an unauthorised AI tool to collate information before the HDA brings into question the veracity of the information presented to the HDA's three-person panel.
The executive director of panels and housing delivery was present for each HDA meeting and declared a conflict of interest in 11 matters before the HDA, where she was not responsible for the preparation of the reports before the body, in the other 572 instances we are left to understand that this unauthorised AI tool could have been used in the preparation of the reports.
From published transcripts of proceedings of the HDA it is clear that the panel does not undertake extensive discussion of each EOI and relies heavily on the information provided to the panel from the prepared reports.
NSW Opposition Leader Kellie Sloane said that the community deserves the highest integrity in their planning system and the Minister needs to make this review public to restore community confidence.
"The Minns Labor Government needs to ensure community confidence in our planning system by making the independent review public and publishing the terms of reference of the review," Ms Sloane said.
"The Housing Delivery Authority was established by the Government to offer a streamlined assessment process, but as part of that pathway the Government needs to ensure the highest integrity and transparency to support the decisions that are being made," Ms Sloane said.
Shadow Minister for Planning and Public Spaces, Scott Farlow says this isn't the first instance of error from the HDA and the Government needs to provide adequate resources to the body.
"Since its inception we've seen the HDA approve proposals over land that wasn't controlled by the applicant, misdescribe locations and the approved height of applications," Mr Farlow said.
"This is clear evidence that while the HDA has dealt with nearly 600 expressions of interest, they haven't been provided with the resources to do their job properly.
"While AI tools have an important role to play in the planning system, there needs to be a thorough validation of the inputs into the system and the determinations that are being made and that requires a proper approval process within the Department and should include a public disclosure of the tools being used to give community confidence in the planning system," Mr Farlow said.
