The General Manager
Eurobodalla Shire Council
PO Box 99
MORUYA NSW 2537

Dear Sir,

DETERMINATION OF DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS

For some time our members have been unhappy about information available to Councillors when making decisions on development proposals. Councillors are often asked to decide on the merits of proposals based on information provided by verbal deputations and presentations.

In such cases no further investigation by staff is made of the points raised in these presentations. Councillors are well served with historical staff reports and recommendations but information presented verbally must often be quickly decided upon without recourse to expert staff advice.

We recommend that meeting procedure be amended to provide that development proposals subject of verbal deputations and presentations are not decided upon at the meeting where the deputation is made. Rather, such development proposals should be referred back to Council staff for investigation of the information provided in the deputation and further report.

Of course, development decisions cannot be deferred indefinitely and have to be made as soon as possible. We feel however, that information provided verbally to councillors in meeting should be treated with the same rigor as more formal information available to Councillors in the form of staff reports.. We recommend that referral of development proposals back to staff for consideration of information provided verbally be allowed twice only Proposals would thus not be permitted to cycle eternally between deputation and report stages.

Implementation of such a procedural amendment will undoubtedly add to the total processing time for development proposals. We feel however, that Councillors, being more fully briefed and having the advantage of considered staff review of information provided verbally during presentations, will be in a position to better determine the merits of development proposals.

We look forward to your consideration of this recommendation and to your early positive response.

Yours sincerely

for Jenny Edwards
Secretary