Council Assessment Panel (CAP)

The Council Assessment Panel (CAP) meetings are held in the Council Administration building at 245 Sturt Road, Sturt.

At its inaugural meeting on 1 November 2017, the CAP resolved that meetings will be held on the first Wednesday of every month (except in January, a meeting will be held on the third Wednesday of the month).

Meetings will ordinarily commence at 6.30pm at the Council’s administration building, 245 Sturt Road, Sturt. Occasionally, meetings will commence at 7.00pm due to site visit/s conducted prior to the meeting. In such instances, all persons invited to attend the meeting will be notified of the delayed commencement. Meeting times are also identified on the cover page of the meeting Agenda.

The CAP comprises five members; one elected member and four community members with particular expertise in planning matters.

The task of a panel is to assess proposed development against the Development Plan, which sets out the planning policies applicable to the council area. In doing so, the panel weighs up the "pros and cons" of an application. This involves a judgement based on whether a development satisfies, or is at variance with the policies set out in the Development Plan.

A panel cannot grant planning consent if it believes that the proposed development is seriously at variance with the Development Plan. On the other hand, it is unlikely that a proposal will satisfy all policies in the Development Plan and the panel must therefore determine, on balance, if a development should be approved.

The CAP is presented with a report on every application to be considered. Each report assesses the proposal against the provisions of the Development Plan and includes documentation from the applicant (or their consultant) and copies of representations lodged in respect to the application being considered. Those reports are available to view below under "Agendas and Minutes" on the Friday prior to the meeting.

In respect of any matter that is before the panel or likely to be considered by the panel, members of the Council Assessment Panel are not permitted to discuss, comment or express an opinion upon the merits of that matter with applicants, representors, members of the public or government agencies.

The panel meetings operate on the following basis:

• The chair will open the meeting and advise all representors and applicants of the meeting procedure.
• If considered necessary, the chair will invite a council planning officer to outline the application being considered. This is normally done by illustrating the plans and other relevant features (eg development in the locality) to the Panel on a media screen.
• The chair then invites those persons who have lodged representations stating that they wish to be heard by the Panel, to come forward and address the Panel.
• Each speaker is given up to 5 minutes to address the Panel irrespective of the number of persons being represented by the speaker. Panel members may also ask questions of the person.
• Representors are advised to utilise their time wisely by concentrating on the most salient points they wish to raise - there is no need to merely reiterate their written representation as members of the Panel would have read this material.
• After hearing the representors, the applicant (and/or their consultant) is invited by the chair to address the Panel. Again, questions may be asked of the applicant by members of the panel.
• The CAP will then deliberate and determine applications, taking into consideration the report written by council's planning staff, the relevant provisions of the Development Plan and the verbal submissions made on the application at the meeting.