MORE members will be appointed to Sutherland Shire Council’s independent hearing and assessment panel (IHAP) and architectural review advisory panel (ARAP) to deal with an anticipated increase in development applications once the new local environmental plan has been gazetted.
The assessment panel is an independent forum for objectors and applicants on certain development applications.
The council wants to recruit more professional members for both panels and additional community representatives for the IHAP.
The panels meet every three weeks but could meet twice a month to meet anticipated demand to review any extra development applications.
ARAP consists of seven architects and two landscape architects.
The council wants to appoint another two landscape architects and another five architects to help with the increased work.
There are 11 specialists on the assessment panel; the council now wants to appoint another five members.
This would include an additional three community representatives and two extra town planners.
Earlier this year, the council changed the way community representatives were rostered on to the IHAP to cope with the shortage of available community representatives.
For each meeting, the panel is rostered to include five IHAP members, a community representative and three others.
This procedure ensured that the development applications up for consideration on a particular evening were not located within the same local government wards where the rostered community representative resides.
The council decided that community representatives would be rostered in the same way as other panel members, and they would be required to manage potential conflicts of interest by declaring them.