Update

During the public exhibition period, no submissions were received. Following public exhibition a report was presented to Council’s Environmental Planning Committee on 3 October 2023 (read the meeting minutes here), and the Council meeting on 9 October 2023 (read the meeting minutes here), where the policy was adopted.

Take a look at the finalised Managing Conflicts of Interest for Council-related Development Policy.

About this project

We've drafted a policy for Managing Conflicts of Interest for Council-related Development to provide Council staff with a clear framework for making decisions, improving accountability and consistency.

In the recent years, amendments to the Environmental Planning and Assessment Regulation 2021 (EPA) have been introduced which require councils to have a policy in place to manage conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with Council-related development. This is different to Council’s existing Conflict of Interests Policy (2013), which supports the Code of Conduct, assists Council officials to identify conflicts of interest, and outlines how they are managed.

In particular, the purpose of the new policy is to address potential conflict of interest situations where a Council is the applicant developer (whether lodged by or on behalf of the Council), landowner or otherwise holds a commercial interest in the land, as well as the consent authority and regulator. The policy provides staff with a clear framework for making decisions, improving accountability, transparency, consistency and fairness to meet the legislative requirements of section 66A of the EPA.

Identifying these conflicts of interest early and finding ways to address them is crucial to good governance and allows Council to strengthen community relationships and build trust.

Key components of the policy

The draft policy has been developed to comply with the Department of Planning and Environment’s Council-related Development Application Conflict of Interest Guidelines.

The key components of the policy (as set out by the Department of Planning and Environment) are:

  • Council must have a policy in place to manage conflicts of interest that may arise in connection with Council-related development (section 66A)
  • Council-related development assessments (DA) must be accompanied by management strategy statement. The statement is to explain how Council will manage potential conflicts of interest, or a statement that Council has no management strategy for the application (section 36A)
  • Council must record conflicts of interest in connection with each council-related DA, and the measures taken to manage the conflicts, in their existing DA register (section 242A)
  • Council-related DAs must be exhibited for a minimum of 28 days to ensure transparency during the assessment process (Environment Planning and Assessment Act 1979, schedule 1, clause 9B).

Have your say

We asked for feedback on our draft Policy for Managing Conflicts of Interest for Council-related Development via the following methods:

  • Online: fill in the form below
  • Email: records@woollahra.nsw.gov.au with the subject - Policy for Managing Conflicts of Interest for Council-related Development Feedback
  • Mail: Letter addressed to the General Manager at Woollahra Council, PO Box 61, Double Bay NSW 1360, with the subject - Policy for Managing Conflicts of Interest for Council-related Development Feedback

Feedback closed at 5pm, Thursday 28 September 2023.