Environmental Planning and Assessment Act 1979

Schedule 2 contains provisions with respect to the members and procedure of local planning panels.

A local planning panel is required to give written reasons for its decisions and make them publicly available on a website of or used by the panel. A decision is not invalid merely because of a failure to give or publish the reasons or all of the reasons for the decision.

The regulations may make provision for or with respect to the following—

the functions conferred under this Act on local planning panels, including the procedures of panels in exercising their functions,

without limiting paragraph (a), providing that parties are not to be represented (whether by an Australian legal practitioner or any other person) or are only to be represented in specified circumstances,

the provision of information or reports by councils with respect to the exercise of functions by local planning panels.

The council is to provide staff and facilities for the purpose of enabling a local planning panel to exercise its functions.

The council is to monitor the performance of local planning panels constituted by the council.

A council that has constituted a local planning panel must provide a report to the Planning Secretary, each year or other period directed by the Planning Secretary, as to the following—

whether a local planning panel had been constituted by the council during the reporting period,

the matters referred to the panel in the reporting period,

the persons appointed to the panel,

any other matters relating to the exercise of functions by the panel as directed by the Planning Secretary.

Legal proceedings by or against a local planning panel are to be taken in the name of the panel and not by or against the members of the panel.

A local planning panel may delegate any function of the panel under this or any other Act (other than this power of delegation) to the general manager or other staff of the council. Section 381 of the Local Government Act 1993 does not apply to any such delegation.

For the avoidance of doubt, a member of a local planning panel is a public official for the purposes of the Independent Commission Against Corruption Act 1988.