Local Government NSW says the protection and management of priority species and significant environmental matters, including climate change, remains "challenging" under existing legislation.
It says local government plays an important role in managing biodiversity, particularly given their critical responsibilities as a consent authority for local development, as a land manager, through strategic planning, and in influencing future planning and development decisions. Among its recommendations is a streamlined listings of species across jurisdictions to create one list of species and ecological communities with consistent descriptions and management actions.
The submission said a more efficient and streamlined process would help many players, "from proponents grappling with a complex myriad of environmental legislation, through to state and local governments' assessment and planning processes which may lead to unnecessary duplication."
Climate has always changed . . . bureaucrats are the problem! Renewables waste taxpayer dollars!
Local government is too influenced by local pressure groups and businesses to be allowed to have a strong role on such an important issue. In short, they can't be trusted to do much more than collect the garbage.