Investigating WA Development

 WA Legislative Council majority has just pushed Cooke Government into holding a “Select Committee Into Land Development and Planning in Western Australia”

The Committee will inquire into and report about:

• Land use planning, transactions, development
• Local planning schemes, strategies, policies, frameworks especially WAPC, DAPs
• Land transaction decisions
• If development decisions align with key planning documents
• High profile development decisions including but not limited to Burswood motorsports facility and Smiths Beach.

WE HAVE ONLY 12 MONTHS!

 Start now on,

• Gathering evidence, especially by sworn affidavits, for submissions
• EM notice of motion to Councils supporting establishment of the inquiry and send minutes to inquiry, now
• Community Public Question Time questions and statements urging Council to formally support establishment of committee now, and about submissions that should be made on particular development/subdivision/zoning and the governance around them
• notices of motion to submit on matters affecting your local government
• election profiles for upcoming LG elections relating to this inquiry
• start drafting private and group submissions especially supporting third party merits review rights and establishment of a Land and Environment Court with judicial powers

 These are the Committee members who you can contact about the committee:

Hon. Neil Thomson MLC (Chair) https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/FA2C66ABEF376A4E482586DF001F0EE7?opendocument

Hon. Dr Brad Pettitt MLC (Deputy Chair)

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/AFD57421A95FD674482586DF001DF9C9?opendocument

Hon. Anthony Spagnolo MLC

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/F16CD72B92EEF3E748258C83001A98C2?opendocument
Hon. Dan Caddy MLC

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/BFF1F0353A6FA956482586DC0007F0C2?opendocument
Hon. Lauren Cayoun MLC

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/047DFD70901D362948258C83001929A7?opendocument
Hon. Amanda Dorn MLC

https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/Memblist.nsf/AllDocs/2336BFC39AFDF00E48258C8400118D60?opendocument

Information about parliamentary committees generally here https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/WebCMS/webcms.nsf/content/about-committees

Information about this committee here https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/WCurrentNameNew/FFD74EC37410553348258CE600204762?OpenDocument#current

Committee Terms of Reference are here https://www.parliament.wa.gov.au/Parliament/commit.nsf/WCurrentNameNew/FFD74EC37410553348258CE600204762?OpenDocument#current

These are contact details for the Committee

Parliament House
4 Harvest Tce
West Perth WA 6005

08 9222 7491

ldp@parliament.wa.gov.au

CHECK Into Committee website at least weekly to find out when it is meeting, submissions are due, programming.

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BOULTER ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT 

first edition 2025 by Sandra Boulter

 ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Sandra (Sandy) Boulter has worked as a general nurse, midwife, solicitor and barrister, local government director and elected member. She is the mother of five children and grandmother of seven. As a lawyer, Sandy specialised in administrative law in the environmental, planning and development, and mental health law contexts. She was editor and contributor to the text, “Coast Law in Western Australia” when working as a solicitor for the Environmental Defenders Office. Currently, Sandy is retired from paid work and is Chair of the Local Government Elected Members Association Inc (LGEMA) in the public interest in local government good governance, for now and for her grandchildren’s future.

 ABOUT THE BOOK

This book was six years in the making without any grants, funding or peer support (not for the want of asking). It is for each and every member and associate member of the Local Government Elected Members’ Association Inc (LGEMA) for their questions, formidably courageous work in fostering local government good governance, who have always been the author’s guide and inspiration to taking the local government good governance road so sadly less travelled; and for their courage in putting the answers to their local government employees and elected members, often at great personal cost. The book is in two volumes and around 750 pages and was launched at the LGEMA forum 28 June 2025.

Contents: Boulter on Local Government Contents

ORDERING THE BOOK

Send postal address with confirmation of payment by email to sandra.boulter@outlook.com

Payment

LGEMA MEMBERS ONE COPY AT $150    /    ALL OTHER ORDERS $300

Payments to BSB 736034 Act 700437 with your name included in the payment

Postage : Included in cost

Pick up address (same price) : email sandra.boulter@outlook.com for pickup address

Postal Delivery : allow up to one month

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Stand out from the crowd with a Local Government Elected Member Association membership.