9 November 2006

ACT Planning and Land Authority wins competition against itself

| johnboy
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Simon Corbell has put out a media release as part of an orgy of self-congratulation at the ACT Planning and Land Authority.

It seems they’ve won five awards from the Planning Institute of Australia ACT Division and Stormwater Industry Association.

I have to ask, how much competition is there in the ACT Division of the Planning Institute of Australia?

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Well the saga of the Hackett afterschoolcare hut is still dragging on.
Apparently actpla gave permission for it in January, then decided the wrong area of urban services had given approval, so took it back. Parks and Place officers are threatening to remove and sell the cottage if it isn’t moved 6m by DEC 22, yet it can’t be moved without formal ACTPLA approval….which it can’t get til it moves… Surely this kind of thing could be sorted out with a simple meeting at the site.

You can’t half tell I have a bit of a grudge – can you….lol

As far as I know they are just disorganised and mismanaged.
As far as their assessment procedure goes, they focus on what people can’t do, instead of “working towards a solution”. They try to find problems to create extra work to justify their own importance (and employment). There are a few good sorts there, like the Licencing Section seemed to run pretty well (before it joined the normal Customer Services), but most of the other workers hate their jobs so much that they power trip to make themselve feel better – I’m sure we all know the type (been in the same job 10 years, not able to progress anywhere etc)so they get through there days by making things difficult for everyone else (other staff and clients)
Unhappy worker = shit business.

FC are they corrupt or just disorganised?
Noone seems to have anything good to say about them.

actpla is a joke.
I used to work there and if I ever have to build something I am just going to do it unapproved to avoid dealing with those jokers!

governance issues at actpla…

i have a mate who has a mate who has a cousin who has an application in for 10 storey apartment block on a heritage listed block in ainslie… he expects his $500 annual donation to the local ALP to get this in play

I think Dorte was pulling Neil to get this prize.

Incidentally, Corbell STILL hasn’t responded to the ten questions sent to him by Riotact back near the beginning of this year.

Should we start nicknaming him Simon “the wussbag” Corbell?

Vic Bitterman10:55 pm 09 Nov 06

By crikey corbell is a goose. Such pointless ‘media releases’ do nothing but confirm this.

boom tish!

Is the Stormwater Industry Association a drain on the public purse?

JB, this happens every year, and enables Corbell and ACTPLA to claim things like “best practice”.

As you rightly point out, a big fish in a small pond is no way to judge the merits or otherwise.

A better way of judging performance is when there is an independent review, as happened recently when the ACT Auditor-General gave ACTPLA a right smacking for the quality of their development application process, or when the AAT tells ACTPLA staff they don’t understand the legislation and instruments they are supposed to be administering, or when they invite a prestigious organisation like the National Institute for Governance to review their consultative practices and then reject every single recommendation made by NIG.

The PIA awards are meaningless in this context, and Neil Savery should know better than to crow about them.

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