Decision time.

The ICAC report has been handed down - the villains have been named and shamed -and now it is up to the DPP to decide if and when prosecutions will be launched.

This sordid affair has cast doubts over Wollongong council's decision making process in approving or rejecting development proposals. It should be remembered that deciding development proposals always has been - and always will be - a battle between the developers need to make money from the proposal - and the rules that councils impose and to which designs need to conform.

And that is where the whole process needs fine tuning.

There are a number of influential people in this city who are opposed to almost any form of development. They abhor high rise and their aim is to preserve Wollongong as a big country town with houses on quarter acre blocks and nothing arising more than one or two levels.

Opposing them are realists who know that a modern city needs to concentrate living on the " vertical village " concept to utilise services such as power and sewage - and accommodate a new breed of citizens who have no interest in gardening - and simply want a place to live while they pursue time consuming business interests.

Both concepts have their place. A city needs a high rise centre, and traditional housing to accommodate backyards where children can play usually exists on the city perimeter.

The squabbles that lead to corruption usually arise from interpretation of the rules - and yet any fair minded person would not consider one of the properties at the centre of this fiasco to be anything but a desirable block of units.

Victoria Square did not meet the rules governing such buildings - but the shortfalls seem arcane - and it is complete and has people living in it.

Could it be that the battle between developers and " the no development people " have resulted in a too strict formulae on what is permissible ?

If we want a clean council free of corruption it would make sense to have a long, hard look at the rules governing the type of buildings we would welcome in this city.

A concept free of nit picking and restrictions that make little sense would go a long way to really making Wollongong the " city of innovation ".