Councillor Don Palmer Providing Local Leadership & Working for You

The Public Consultation phase of DPA2 after last night’s public meeting has now completed. The question is, where to from here?

The presentations were in the main well researched and well presented. The submissions had substance to them.

The residents of Unley are to be congratulated on their approach to the consultation phase of the DPA. I say this particularly in light of the confusing communications from the City of Unley. The residents of this fair City have demonstrated that they can have a mature conversation about the environment in which they live.

I am very proud of the residents of my ward, my neighbours, and their contribution. Over 50% of the written, and the verbal submissions came from the Goodwood South Ward.

This is a group of people who have had much happen around them in the item I have been on Council. And some of that they have simply had to endure, along with criticism from the powers that be that they weer poorly behaved.

Notwithstanding the confusing messages sent out by Council they too have demonstrated what consultation is all about. The State Government and their department DPTI could learn a lot from us. Here is a group of people treated by Unley as adults who responded in kind. A far cry from the communications that my neighbours have endured from the State Government in the last two years.

Well Done Guys!

So……where to from here?
Our staff will now prepare a report summarising the main thrusts of the public feed back. They will present this report to the Development, Strategy & Policy Committee which heard the verbal submissions last night. They (the committee) will meet on August 11 when they will consider what they have heard and admin’s report.
They will make a recommendation to Council who will consider the same at the August Council meeting. This will be held on August 25th. 
If Council were to approve the plan as drafted it would then be presented to the Minister who will get DPTI to oversee it. I reckon his sanction in this scenario would likely be early next year.
If Council, on the other hand, were to make changes to it by way of changing the borders between zones or other like initiative it would have to go back for redrafting and another round of public consultation. Likewise if Council were to say we got this wrong, that it is flawed and we have to go back and start afresh, then once again our admin would have to do just that and it again would have to go back out for public consultation.
In either of these scenarios the next Council would have to deal with what is then submitted. The reason for this is this Council goes into caretaker mode at the end of August in readiness for the November elections.
I expect the latter will be the case (I will certainly be pushing this way)…. but …. as always …. watch this space.