Should my town planner be a little more pro active....

Just wondering

Planning application (subdivision / development) has come back from council with initial requests for changes as current submission will not be supported by council.
Some council requests are ambiguous / illogical etc, need clarification etc....

My town planner has suggested they will make changes as they best see fit and send in a re-submission.
I suggested would it not be better for my planner to call council for clarification etc prior to changes & re-submission.
My planner told me No, as council does not work like that?, and it / changes would have to be sent in writing etc

I find her response hard to believe, I would have thought a ph call for further clarification and bounce ideas would be allowed / logical and save time and money...

Should I be pushing my planner to work a bit harder for my money etc

Cheers

 

Yeah u shud which council is this?

 

Some government departments are not commercial. They are procedural.

If your planner is familiar with that local government I recommend you follow their advice.

If they have never previously dealt with that council get a second opinion.

 

I have dealt with a council in WA on a DA matter that carried on worse than that, so it's possible your town planner is correct.

 

By the sounds of it, your planner is playing the game. Make the obvious/non-negotiable changes and argue the others on merit.

What seems illogical to a lay person may be totally reasonable to a practitioner or due to other compelling reasons known only to the council.

 

Some consultants prefer to do as Councils ask rather than challenging. This could be for a number of reasons - where do the consultant's interest's lie? do they have a relationship with Council staff, and don't want to upset the staff? are they fearful of repercussions in the next project? do they just simply not understand?

A call for clarification should be a first course of action, unless the planner completely agrees with the questions being asked

 

Quote "Some council requests are ambiguous / illogical etc, need clarification etc...."
I see a lot of this lately, usually because the council planner is not sure what they are doing, mostly from junior staff. Objecting seems to them they are doing their job, not enough confidence to outline clearly. Sydney is worse with amalgamations and job insecurity adding to the mix.

I think half way between is the best approach, polite phone calls to ask for clarification, especially with some of the more illogical requests. If too strange, maybe ask to speak to a manager?

 

@Keentolearn77 i have seen permits which I scan regularly on the Council websites when one planner pushed for 3 on the block when the next door had 5 on the block. Some architects + planners just want to get it across the line and get paid and move on the next just a numbers game for them

 

It'd be sensible for your planner to approach it this way: get the architect to make any reasonable alterations to the plans that you think are being asked for and then request a meeting with the Council planner to show them and discuss the contents of the RFI letter for clarification. Do this in a timely manner, not at the end of the timeframe you're given. In person is always better. Its not an opportunity to argue - that should be done in writing when you resubmit- but to clarify what is being asked. You and the Council planner don't have to agree, but you do need to understand.