FORMER Planning Minister Andrew Barr was  warned by his chief planner of widespread interference in the planning process which potentially compromised development assessment but did nothing about it,  says ACT Opposition Leader Zed Seselja.

The Opposition has secured, through freedom of information, a cabinet-in-confidence brief to Barr from chief planner Neil Savery  complaining of political interference around a shopping development in Giralang in his role as head of the ACT Land Planning Authority.

Mr Savery says in the brief: “You will understand that I find this level of interference, which in the case of DLAPS is occurring on an ever more frequent basis, although not always as obviously as in this case, has the potential to make the role of ACTPLA as a statutory authority for a range of tasks increasingly difficult and puts the Government at risk. It also means that one part of your 2010 Statement of Planning Intent is difficult to deliver, namely, ‘keeping the politics out of planning’.’’

“What is known from the documents released under Freedom of Information to the Canberra Liberals is that a letter to Jon Stanhope was drafted for Mr Barr, but it was neither signed nor dated and unlikely sent,” Seselja said

“The FOI documents also reveal that what appears to be the only action taken by Andrew Barr, was for his office to organise a meeting with Mr Savery, then Chief Minister Jon Stanhope and the head of the public service. Instead of investigating the complaints he organised a meeting with the Minister responsible for the departments that were suggested to have tried to interfere. He hung Mr Savery out to dry.

“Andrew Barr has some serious explaining to do about what investigations he sought to investigate the claims made by his Chief Planner. What will Katy Gallagher do to show leadership to ensure this type interference doesn’t continue in planning decisions?

“It will be impossible for confidence in the planning process to be maintained if these serious claims are just swept under the carpet.”

[box type=”download”]Download Savery’s brief to Barr. Download the unsigned letter to Stanhope.[/box]