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Waverley Local Planning Panel (WLPP)

Notice Regarding Waverley Local Planning Panel

The operation of the Waverley Local Planning Panel meeting scheduled for the 25 March 2020 is postponed due to the current public health restrictions arising from the Coronavirus pandemic. Waverley Council is in the process of examining alternate operational processes that would allow safe conduct of these meetings and notice of these will be provided in advance of any future meeting.

The meeting dates scheduled for 2020

Agendas: Meeting agendas, including reports, can be viewed on this website from the Wednesday afternoon prior to the meeting.

Minutes: Meeting minutes should be available on this webpage the day following the Panel meeting.

About the Waverley Local Planning Panel

What is the Waverley Local Planning Panel?

The Waverley Local Planning Panel determines significant DAs (as defined by the criteria set by the Minister) in the Waverley LGA. This includes DAs such as new Residential Flat Buildings, the demolition of a heritage item, development which has a significant number of unique objections, a departure to a statutory development standard greater than 10%, applications proposing a planning agreement or an identified conflict of interest.

The Panel is made up of a pool of planning experts, independent of Council, who meet monthly.  Councillors are no longer be involved in the decision-making process for determining those DAs, allowing them more time to focus on strategic planning issues, such as the planning controls that underpin DA decisions.

Panel members

The Panel members are independent of Council. Each Panel will consist of a specialist from the disciplines of Architecture, Urban Design, Town Planning, Heritage and Planning Law as well as elected community representatives.  The Panel members will be introduced at the meeting. Panel members are rotated each month from a pool of selected experts.

When and where are meetings held?

The Panel meeting is held at Council Chambers on Level 3, on the corner of Paul Street and Bondi Road.

How does the Local Planning Panel work?

The applicant and those who provided a submission to the Development Application will be invited to attend the Panel meeting. Included in the letter is an invitation to register for the Panel to inspect a site (on the day of the meeting) and/or to address the panel members at the formal meeting. Further information on how to register for an inspection or to speak at the meeting is found below.

The report on the DA is prepared by Council’s Development & Building Unit (DBU) for consideration and includes a full assessment of the proposal, the objections made and a recommendation. Prior to the formal meeting, Panel members will undertake an inspection of the sites (including any interested parties who registered for an inspection) to be considered on the agenda.

The formal meeting typically begins at the Council Chambers between 11am – 12noon (after the site inspections). The Panel Chairperson opens the meeting and introduces the Panel members. The order of business is set out in the agenda. Copies of the agenda are available from this web page and hard copies will be available at the meeting.

The quorum for a meeting of the Panel is three members. Council staff will attend to provide technical advice on Council’s controls or answer questions if required.  As each item is referred to, the objectors are invited to speak for three minutes. The applicant will then be invited to respond. The Panel members may ask questions of the addressees.

Speakers should bear in mind that the Panel members have had the report and submissions for a few days before the meeting and it is not necessary to repeat information that has been provided in the report. Speakers may table photographs and supplementary material at the meeting if they wish.

Once all the registered speakers have addressed the Panel on the item, the Panel will move to the next item on the agenda and continue to receive speakers until all items on the agenda have been addressed. The meeting will then officially close and the panel will move to a closed session to deliberate and determine each item. Members of the public will not be able to participate in this part of the meeting.

Minutes of the meeting will generally be available for viewing from Council’s website within 2 days of the meeting.

Addressing the Panel

If you wish to address the Panel regarding an item on the agenda, you must first register with the Panel Co-ordinator by 5pm the Monday prior to the meeting. To register, please email WLPP@waverley.nsw.gov.au

You must already have lodged a written submission on the Development Application (DA) you wish to address. Unless the Panel otherwise permits, no resident, objector, applicant or supporter may speak for more than 3 minutes in respect of any one matter. If you address the Panel, your name will be included in the minutes of the meeting.

Registering for a Site Inspection

The Panel will generally inspect the subject site and any other site it determines may assist in their assessment on the day of the public meeting. You may request that the Panel inspect your property as a part of this process. During the inspections, the Panel will not hear verbal submissions. These can only be provided during the public meeting at the Council Chambers following completion of all inspections. To register for a site inspection, please email WLPP@waverley.nsw.gov.au

Panel Archive

On 1 July 2013, the Independent Hearing & Assessment Panel (IHAP) was superseded by the Waverley Development Assessment Panel (WDAP) which was re-named the Waverley Local Planning Panel on 22 June 2018.

You can still view the agendas and minutes of WDAP and WLPP meetings from previous years by accessing the archive.