Whose Backyard?
In order to get just about anything done in home renovation, the national sport of Sydney, it’s necessary to submit a development application to the local council (and there are plenty of them) for approval. That’s fine, as it keeps homeowners from turning their semidetached Federation-style home into a multiple occupancy mini-slum. There are horror stories, too, of DA’s being rejected on heritage-listing grounds, sometimes ludicrously so, but by-and-large, the development process works, even if it also largely amounts to just another municipal revenue stream.

So why would the State make it easier on the big developers, bypassing the local council approval process to stream projects through? Well, there is the argument that it would clear hurdles where projects straddle councils, but are there so very many of those? The list of projects offered by the Herald - Luna Park, Prince Henry Hospital, Pyrmont renewal, Optus, and Fox Studios – are pretty varied in scope and area impact, Luna Park and PHH being notable for some level of controversy from the neighbors. Interestingly, the Carlton brewery project isn’t mention, and that’s one I’d have thought would surely have turned up, because this power grab smacks, to me, of just the kind of “punishment” the Carr government would like to inflict on Sydney’s Lord Mayor, Clover Moore, for having thwarted their power consolidation move when City of Sydney and South Sydney Councils were merged and she defeated Labor’s candidate. This is worth keeping an eye on.