THE escalating debate over cleared vegetation in Wattle Grove arrived at the City of Kalamunda’s council chambers late last month, with a deputation calling for increased transparency on delegated authority made at July’s ordinary council meeting.

Wattle Grove residents were left blindsided after trees earmarked for retention were approved for removal by council staff without going before council for decision, as reported in Call for transparency after Wattle Grove tree removal.

Addressing elected members and city management during the deputation, Fight for Wattle Grove spokesperson Kim Sinclair called on councillors to get rid of the delegated authority process, that allowed tree clearing without public consultation or council vote.

“There is no transparency, no public oversight, no recourse, no rigor, and no accountability,” Mr Sinclair said.

“If a developer ends up with a tree retention condition they don’t like, they can simply wait and ask staff to amend it during construction.”

Presenting a draft motion for consideration at the upcoming August ordinary council meeting, Mr Sinclair urged councillors to alter the city’s register of delegations so that any future decisions involving the removal of trees previously designated for retention would be forced to return to a full council meeting for public debate.

Responding to the deputation, the city’s director of development services Nathan Ritchie, rejected the claim that the decision represented a loophole, but was a part of the standard planning procedure under Western Australia’s statutory process.

“It’s not so much a loophole, but a normal part of the process,” he said.

“This planning philosophy is about how much is the right amount of public oversight and transparency in the process while enabling a level of certainty for developers to achieve their objectives on their land.”

The administration also noted that oversight thresholds are set predominately by state legislation, and urged residents seeking broader policy shifts advocate directly to the Planning Minister John Carey.

Cr Modolo questioned whether elected members have any legal standing to reclaim authority over the decision made by city staff.

“Was this decision made under a delegated authority to the city?” he said.

“If so, is it capable of being revoked such that council does determine these matters moving forward?”

Cr Modolo’s question was taken on notice by city staff and the draft motion made by Mr Sinclair is expected to come before council later this month for consideration.