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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 4 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 1094 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

sure that they are afforded protection. That will be with us shortly. It will be a big step forward in protection of the heritage nature of the ACT.

In broad terms, the area specific policies provide for medium and higher density housing in inner north Canberra and some other locations close to the commercial and employment centres of Civic, Kingston, Griffith and Gungahlin. They offer a wide range of accommodation types, and/or commercial and community uses in certain locations, including Northbourne Avenue, the Gungahlin Town Centre and Forrest. They put in place a single storey limit in environmentally sensitive areas where impacts need to be minimised and offer protection for the special character of Hall and Tharwa. They are far more encompassing than Mr Corbell has portrayed to this place tonight.

Having made the point that the great majority of draft variation 125 is unchanged, it is equally important to spell out that ACTCode constitutes a significant change to the way residential development will occur in the ACT. Combined with the government's quality and sustainability initiatives, it will make a difference. It truly requires a new way of thinking about residential development based on a whole-of-neighbourhood approach, whether what is being planned is a new single residence in an existing suburb, a greenfields development or a dual occupancy or multiunit redevelopment.

No-one who is undertaking residential development will be unaffected. Applicants and the assessing officers will need to demonstrate that they have considered the character of the streetscape and the neighbourhood in both new subdivisions and established suburbs. ACTCode constitutes a significant change to the way residential development occurs in the ACT. Yes, it will make a difference. Everyone who is undertaking residential development will be affected. (Further extension of time granted.)

Mr Speaker, it is performance-based rather than prescriptive, but set against the clear rules of the Territory Plan. It focuses on quality outcomes, not detailed rules. It challenges those who are designing dwellings, and approving them, to think outside the box-ticking approach to design. Maximum plot ratios-that is, the ratio of floor space to the size of the land-are being introduced for all medium unit housing, including dual occupancy. Generally, the maximum plot ratio will be 0.35, unless there is an approved section master plan, agreed with the community, which may allow a plot ratio of up to 0.5. The 0.35 plot ratio does not change the policies which Labor put in place in the mid-1990s following the Lansdown report.

Other aspects of the ACTCode are not new, but they do raise the bar much closer to the levels that Canberrans used to take as the norm before Labor's relaxation of the rules in the early 1990s let us all down. For instance, more generous street verges are required in new development areas once again to enable large street trees to prosper. That will make development a little more costly for the territory, for the taxpayer, but will enable Canberra's garden city character to be extended into the newer parts of the city. Tree-lined streetscapes and landscapes such as Grant Crescent in Griffith will be a formal requirement. That and other elements of ACTCode on tree protection, the enhancement and provision of street trees and trees on blocks and in new estates are to reinforce and enhance Canberra's garden city character and protect important wildlife habitats.

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