Protecting third party rights of appeal, protecting the environment: A Tasmanian case study

The importance of public participation in environmental and planning law is well established. Despite this, policies to “streamline” environmental approval processes are in vogue in many Australian jurisdictions, leaving public participation opportunities, including third party rights of appeal, vulnerable to restriction. Through a case study of the Tasmanian Resource Management and Planning System and an examination of practitioner experience, this article demonstrates that allowing accessible third party rights of appeal in planning systems frequently leads to better decision-making, as well as providing a means of achieving better environmental outcomes. Calls for reform should be directed at improving access issues, rather than limiting or abolishing third party appeal rights