By TRISTA HEATH

A Snowy Monaro Regional Councillor has sounded the alarm over the complexity of the NSW local government planning process, warning the current system of community consultation is failing to capture the voice of the region’s residents.

Councillor Reuben Rose has gone public with his frustrations, revealing that even after 18 months on the council and months of intensive workshops, the “bureaucratic maze” remains difficult to navigate for elected officials and nearly impossible for the average ratepayer.

The critique follows a recent consultation period where hundreds of pages of technical planning documents elicited only 11 responses from the community, a turnout Cr Rose describes as having “no statistical validity”.

As a solution to the lack of engagement, Cr Rose is advocating for the introduction of deliberative panels, a model already utilised by several councils in Victoria and NSW.

Unlike “pop-up” information stalls, which Cr Rose describes as being of “very limited value,” deliberative panels involve a statistically representative group of the community.

Under this model, a group of residents is selected to work with a facilitator to review council priorities in detail.

While Cr Rose acknowledges that the cost of such panels is “likely to be significant,” he maintains that the benefits of having a plan that truly represents the views of the community outweigh the expense.

“A more statistically valid approach to community engagement is necessary because the plans drive all the council activity,” he said.

“The plans must represent the views of the community and not just those of council staff.”

Cr Rose noted that early in his tenure, he spent approximately 30 hours in planning meetings, only to find himself “more confused at the end than at the beginning”.

Cr Rose explained this complexity is rooted in the Integrated Planning and Reporting (IP&R) framework required under the NSW Local Government Act (1993).

The framework mandates a suite of documents that dictate a council’s long-term strategy, operational plans, and financial management.

“One thing that immediately struck me after becoming a councillor was the complex and compliance-rich environment in which councils are involved,” Cr Rose said.

“The requirements of the NSW Local Government Act seem to grow in detail and complexity.”

The primary concern raised by Cr Rose is the significant disconnect between the council’s planning cycle and the community’s ability to engage with it.

Under current protocols, councillors are often given just six days to review hundreds of pages of draft plans before they are sent out for a mandatory four-week community consultation period.

The result of this compressed timeline and the density of the documents has seen a staggering lack of public engagement.

In a region comprising of approximately 22,000 residents and 15,000 ratepayers, the submission of only 11 responses highlights a system in crisis. A similar low response rate is found in many other regional council areas.

“The various documents, usually several hundred pages, are incomprehensible to most of the community,” Cr Rose said.

He argued that the process, originally designed by state governments to increase transparency, has ironically had the opposite effect.

Cr Rose said the issue does not lie with the council staff, who are working hard within their own legislative constraints, but with the system itself.

“This lack of engagement is particularly concerning given the financial pressures facing the Snowy Monaro area,” Cr Rose said.

“The region has seen rate rises of approximately 50 per cent over the last four years, with some areas, such as Jindabyne, experiencing even higher increases due to rising land values.

“The thing that concerns me is the only solution then is to keep on putting up rates.”

The push for better transparency is gaining traction among residents, including Jindabyne Chamber of Commerce president, Olivier Kapetanakos, who stated “consultations should not require a degree”.

In a submission to the council recently, Mr Kapetanakos stated “the current consultation process feels like being asked to plan a month of family meals without knowing the budget, the cost of groceries, or having access to the proper utensils”.

“The problem is not that communities don’t care,” Mr Kapetanakos said.

“The problem is that the consultation process is frequently designed in a way that only policy specialists, consultants, or people with significant time and professional experience can realistically engage with.”

Mr Kapetanakos said that strategic jargon, repetitive corporate language, and cross-referenced reports create barriers that discourage ordinary residents from participating.

“Council could significantly improve participation by providing plain-English “community versions” of plans that highlight exactly what has changed from previous years,” he said.

“Residents should not need to read more than 400 pages to understand what is changing.”

Mr Kapetanakos is calling for a clear distinction between what the council is legally required to deliver (the “must”) and what the community desires (the “want”).

As the council continues to navigate its financial and strategic obligations, the debate over public involvement remains at the forefront.

For residents like Mr Kapetanakos, the goal is simple, a consultation process where the community knows their participation makes a difference.