Community groups concerned about significant contamination at the Barangaroo site at Darling Harbour have gathered outside state parliament, calling on the incoming state government to take swift action to reverse alleged abuses of planning laws.

The community groups accuse Planning Minister Tony Kelly of a last minute intervention in the court case that Australians for Sustainable Development (AfSD) brought against the government and Lend Lease over concerns about the clean up of contamination at the Barangaroo site. Yesterday, Mr Kelly gazetted an order to make the $6 billion project exempt from planning laws on contamination.

AfsD spokesman Ian Campbell has labelled the NSW government's action on the matter "corrupt".

"I think it's corrupt and it's very unfortunate for the people of Sydney," he said.

"(It's) disenfranchised the public and now it's sort of overridden the courts."

AfSD wants the incoming state government to commit to reform of planning laws to protect the voice of communities in planning decisions as well as an inquiry into the proposed Barangaroo development.

In defense of her planning minister, NSW Premier Kristina Keneally told ABC Radio today that Tony Kelly had simply made a clarification to an existing law.

"What the minister has done is clarified what has always been the case and that is that a particular state environmental planning policy, SEP 55, does not apply to major projects," she said.

"It hasn't in the past. It doesn't in this circumstance."

"It is simply not the case to say that there's some exemption being given here," Ms Keneally said.