Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) argues the announcement was made "without any prior consultation" by the Department of Planning, Industry and Environment (DPIE) that new rules would come into effect from July 1, which was delayed.

Councillor Glenn Inglis said he supported the mayoral minute, put to council on Tuesday, and said Tamworth isn't the only council affected by the change.

"Hopefully, if nothing else, even if they gave a couple of years' grace, but to just do it like that is pretty heavy-handed, and I fully support your mayoral minute," he said.

Despite "assurances from DPIE" that the department would undertake further consultation, TRC argues a final decision was made on July 16 without any further talks.

The council will to write to NSW Planning Minister Rob Stokes to express their "extreme disappointment at the lack of genuine consultation".

The council has charged a compliance levy on DA's for the past two years, which has funded two compliance officers, a part-time business support officer and equipment for the team.

Mayor Col Murray said the motion has been supported by a number of local councils around the state.

"It just takes away the opportunity for council to deliver its compliance in a more amenable way," he said.

"That $270,000 being raised through the development levy has allowed the council to have a much more education-focused compliance regime.

"Without the ability to fund that extra work we will have to revert back to a lesser compliance delivery, which means probably less education and more compliance unfortunately."

Read also:

The report argued DPIE agreed to defer the ban on existing compliance levies until the end of 2021 for further consultation.

The motion also had the support of Cr Phil Betts who said it would take away the ability of the council to raise $270,000.

"I know it said in the report we are looking at raising those funds through fines, that's not the way to make it conducive to our community to move ahead," he said.

"Heavy-handed compliance is not the way to go."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: