A FORMER Tweed deputy mayor who forced an inquiry into the council's planning department just over 10 years ago says comments he made about bias in the council planning department may still have "parallels".

And he has warned future buyers of homes in Leda's Kings Forest development south of Kingscliff will pay "inordinately higher costs" because of the millions successive developers have been forced by the council planning department to spend on studies for years.

Bob Brinsmead, a councillor from 1991-2005 and deputy mayor in 2001-02, took on the council planning department resulting in the State Government-appointed Bulford inquiry.

In a twist which bitterly disappointed Mr Brinsmead, and led him to write an online book Democracy Subverted, the inquiry backed the council bureaucracy and roundly criticised pro-development councillors, including Cr Brinsmead, for being too close to developers.

His latest comments follow a statement by Leda Developments which suggested an independent inquiry into the council may be needed.

Mr Brinsmead's book devoted a chapter to Kings Forest, which was formerly owned by the Japanese developer Naruii and was zoned for housing in 1987.

Mr Brinsmead, the founder of Tropical Fruitworld, stressed he had not seen the Leda dossiers on Kings Forest and Cobaki Lakes and could not comment on those, but in his book made "certain observations".

"I stand by my comments then. There may be parallels with comments I made back then," he said.

"If you had an appendix of the millions of dollars spent on studies ... you would see how the price of land has been driven up before a brick is laid in Kings Forest. It means the cost of land is inordinately higher."