Principles for Planning Agreements Clause Samples

Principles for Planning Agreements. 4.5.1. Council’s use of Planning Agreements will be governed by the following principles: a) Planning decisions may not be bought or sold through Planning Agreements. Planning authorities should always consider a development proposal on its merits, not on the basis of a Planning Agreement; b) Development that is unacceptable on planning grounds (including, without limitation, environmental, sustainability or financial grounds) will not be permitted because of Planning benefits offered by developers that do not make the development acceptable in planning terms; c) Planning Agreements must be underpinned by proper strategic land use and infrastructure planning carried out on a regular basis and must address expected growth and the associated infrastructure demand; d) Council will not allow Planning Agreements to improperly ▇▇▇▇▇▇ the exercise of its functions under the EP&A Act, Regulation or any other Act or Law; e) Council will not use Planning Agreements for any purpose other than a proper planning purpose; f) Council will not allow the interests of individuals or interest groups to outweigh the public interest when considering a proposed Planning Agreement; g) Council cannot refuse to grant development consent on the grounds that a Planning Agreement has not been entered into in relation to the proposed development or that the developer has not offered to enter into such an agreement; h) Planning Agreements should not be used as a means of general revenue raising or to overcome revenue shortfalls; i) Value capture should not be the primary purpose of a Planning Agreement; j) Council will not improperly rely on its statutory position, or otherwise act improperly, in order to extract unreasonable public benefits from developers under Planning Agreements, and will ensure that all parties involved in the Planning Agreement process are dealt with fairly; k) If Council has a commercial stake in development the subject of a Planning Agreement, it will take appropriate steps to ensure that it avoids a conflict of interest between its role as a planning authority and its interest in the development; l) Council will not seek benefits under a Planning Agreement that are wholly unrelated to a particular development; m) When considering a development application or environmental planning instrument change, the Council will not take into consideration any public facility or public benefits proposed in the Planning Agreement that are wholly unrelated to the application...