Page 2934 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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I move this motion that refers an important inquiry to the Standing Committee on Planning, Public Works and Territory and Municipal Services. As you know, Mr Speaker, this government like to keep politics out of planning. We like keeping it out almost as much as the opposition parties like to bring it in. There is, however, an appropriate time for planning and policy to be considered by politicians in a rational and measured way, based on evidence. The appropriate time for politics to enter planning is when the government and the Assembly are considering changes to planning policy.
The time for the Assembly is now. The planning authority has prepared a detailed paper on a complex but profoundly important planning policy issue. We all know that cities in the 21st century cannot look like cities in the 20th century. Cities of the future have to be more sustainable. They need to have a smaller carbon footprint. They need fewer cars, more cyclists and more pedestrians. People will need to live closer together, with more and better open spaces.
Mr Speaker, to do all this, buildings will need to be taller and suburbs denser. We all know that and we all accept it. But currently, only one party has its hand up in this place to actually do it, and that is the Labor Party. It is a happy coincidence for me, Mr Speaker, that higher density suburbs are also more economically sustainable. More people living with existing taxpayer funded infrastructure, such as roads, sewers, gas lines and buses means lower demands on taxpayers’ resources. That is a good thing in my mind to freeze up government resources for the sorts of quality education and health services that Canberrans value very highly.
This motion provides the Assembly with an opportunity to make a difference, to start a cultural shift towards a more sustainable and higher density city. Back in 1993 the territory plan made provision for higher density redevelopment in some residential areas through the B1 area-specific policy. It allowed for three-storey development. The B1 policies are aimed to encourage housing diversity, contain urban expansion, conserve energy and resources, and provide opportunities for increased dwelling densities to reduce population losses in established areas.
The north Canberra area was identified as an area suitable for higher density redevelopment because of its central location and good access to public transport facilities and employment. The B1 area was located between Sullivans Creek and Limestone and Majura Avenues and covered the suburbs of Braddon, Turner, O’Connor, Lyneham and Dickson. The initial implementation of this strategic decision was slow because a moratorium on redevelopment in the B1 policy area was instituted in the mid-1990s after the Lansdown inquiry. Subsequently, policy reviews were carried out between 1996 and 1999.
In response to these reviews, territory plan variation 109 was gazetted in May 1999. This variation created the B11 and B12 residential policies within the former B1 policy area, with B11 generally being three storeys and B12 generally being two storeys. The revised policy also required the preparation of section master plans to inform development applications.
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