‘Ridiculous’: Greens proposal to YouTube developer meetings for ‘transparency’

Meetings between developers and Brisbane City Council planning executives would be filmed and posted to YouTube, under a Greens-led council.

Meetings between developers and Brisbane City Council planning executives would be filmed and posted to YouTube, under A Greens-led council.

Greens lord mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan said meetings involving for-profit developers, the Lord Mayor, Deputy Mayor, and Chair of the City Planning Committee would be recorded for greater transparency.

The plan has been criticised by the Property Council Queensland, which labelled the proposal “ridiculous”, particularly in the midst of a housing crisis where more homes are desperately needed.

Greens Brisbane mayoral candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan. Picture, John Gass

Mr Sriranganathan said that if the Greens gained power after the March 16 local government elections, he would use the same definition of a “for-profit property developer” as is used by the state government’s Prohibited Donors Scheme.

Not-for-profit entities, residents and small businesses lodging development applications to renovate their own properties would be exempt.

Mr Sriranganathan described the policy as “cutting the puppet strings”.

“Residents are furious that developers keep getting approvals for poorly-designed projects that don’t comply with the City Plan,” he said. “We don’t even know how often those developers are meeting with the Lord Mayor or the Chair of the Council’s City Planning Committee.

“Banning closed-door meetings between developers and politicians is essential if residents are to have any confidence in the integrity of our planning and development approval system.”

Property Council Queensland executive director Jess Caire said there was already transparency.

“Queensland councils already have extensive and rigorous transparency measures in place and their resources would be far better used progressing applications to boost new housing supply,” she said.

Greens candidate Jonathan Sriranganathan and Labor candidate Tracey Price with incumbent LNP Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner. Picture, John Gass

“There is a bipartisan acknowledgment from both major parties that government needs to work closely with the ­development sector to deliver the homes needed to build Queensland out of the housing crisis.”

LNP campaign spokeswoman Fiona Cunningham said that Mr Sriranganathan should start recording and publishing all his meetings.

“He can record his meetings about cutting road funding and banning cars from traffic lanes across Brisbane, which will cause commuter chaos,” Ms Cunningham said.