Proposed changes to Tasmania’s planning system aimed at cracking down on third party appeals have been labelled undemocratic by environmental groups. The Tasmanian Government’s plan would limit who could lodge appeals with Tasmania’s civil and administrative tribunals to only people who would be directly affected by a planning decision.
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00:00One of the hold-ups for a proposed wind farm on Robbins Island was an appeal from the Bob
00:08Brown Foundation.
00:10Under proposed changes to the state's planning system, that appeal wouldn't be allowed.
00:15People are sick of the red tape that's driving everyone to drink.
00:20The Tasmanian government wants to make it so that only people who are directly and adversely
00:26impacted by a planning decision will be able to lodge an appeal.
00:30I understand people being upset when it comes to appealing a development when you've got
00:36some serious skin in the game.
00:39But we are talking about cashed up organisations funded by mainland interest.
00:46A person who lives right next door and is directly impacted might be individually able
00:51to take an appeal, but that person may be a lone individual with no resources.
00:56The government promised a crackdown a decade ago, but documents obtained under Right to
01:01Information reveal it was abandoned after research found only 1% of development applications
01:07were appealed, with no data on third party appeals.
01:12We know the developers have had their way for a long time and the appeals process has
01:16been the only way the public have had to hold this system to account.
01:20The proposed changes will have to make it through parliament, but already face plenty
01:25of opposition.
01:26The evidence shows that there aren't a lot of third party appeals and it will probably
01:31do nothing.
01:32The government says the changes are yet to be finalised, and didn't make it clear whether
01:37they would apply to developments on public land.