Why does Sydney not have major theme parks?
People are dam lazy.

Sydney needs something like this! Really really needs!
And the government themselves are not spending 80 million.
Village roadshow is investing alot of money and so is the RTA into enhancing the surrounding roads.

Please dont let Sydney remain god dam boring and can we finally have a place that is extremely fun? Like the rest of the world does?

I attended the Seminar on a new Planning Act for NSW organised by the Australian Institute of Urban Studies in September 2011. Michael Neustein made some very useful observations. The regulations and supporting planning instruments and practices that have developed over time, and the lack of a 3rd party appeal system in NSW, seems to have resulted in a development assessment culture that is looking for evidence of non-compliance, and is super careful about following process, rather than focussing on achieiving strategic planning objectives and outcomes. Everyone agreed that the assessment reports being prepared by planners in metropolitan and regional councils are too long and reflect this super cautious culture that has developed over time.

An interesting suggestion was to change the public consultation process, where the planner and proponent negotiate required changes to a proposal. The proposal only goes on exhibition when the planner is satisifed that the proposal acheives the strategic outcomes for the locality and has minimal adverse external impacts. Then the proposal is exhibited with a copy of the assessment by the planning officer . The community is not presented with a proposal that clearly has unresolved issues, the community would be better informed at the exhibition stage, & more dubious objections should not gain traction. Would this ever be possible in NSW?

I agree that many councils do not employ sufficiently experienced planners to assess development applications and that councils often consider irrelevant material to support a rejection of a development application.

Yesterday a client contacted me to say that his development application had been refused by a regional NSW council and wants advice on whether to request a review or take the refusal directly to the Land and Environment Court. I downloaded the council business paper for the meeting that considered the proposal and discovered that the assessing officer who prepared the report has deliberately lied about what was contained in the Statement of Environmental Effects. He or she will look a right peanut once I get him/her on the witness stand.

In my experience lying and misrepresenting facts by professional staff are a way of life in many rural councils and in my opinion there needs to be custodial sentences introduced into the Local Government Act and the Environmental Planning and Assessment Act to deter Councillors and staff from acting contrary to these acts.

Introducing minimum standards of education and experience for both Councillors and professional staff would also be a good start. A relevant degree would be a minimum and five years experience in the relevant field would be better.

This is why I’m encouraging planners and architects alike to collaborate on projects and learn from each other. As I suggested in my article, planners should never try to pretend they are architects, and vice versa. Each professional has their own qualities.

However, planners often argue to look beyond the site and assess whether the proposal will impact the surrounding area. Architects often miss this simple process and it is clearly articulated in their designs.