Page 3318 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 18 September 2013
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Let me conclude by saying that I appreciate that this is a very difficult issue. I welcome the support voiced by the community for renewable energy and their desire for the ACT to be a more sustainable jurisdiction. Equally, I hear the anger and the frustration at the way this process has rolled out and the sense of surprise that there was not an earlier discussion about it.
As I said, I will move an amendment to Mr Wall’s motion that in some ways picks up all the points the Assembly agrees on to some large extent: that we want to achieve our greenhouse gas targets and that we acknowledge that the residents of Uriarra are concerned and they should have the ability to participate in the planning process without being impeded. The amendment calls on the government to ensure that call-in powers are not used in regard to the development application submitted by the proponent of the solar farm proposed for Uriarra.
I will not be supporting Mr Corbell’s amendment. Whilst I agree with many of the statements in it, it is important that this Assembly makes a clear statement about the use of the call-in powers in this circumstance, and I will move my amendment when the opportunity arises.
Amendment negatived.
MR RATTENBURY (Molonglo), by leave: I move:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes:
(a) the Government’s commitment to reducing carbon emissions by 40% by 2020 and implementing a 90% renewable energy target;
(b) that the Solar Auction process is intended to deliver large scale renewable energy generation at an affordable price for consumers, with the three proposed projects capable of cutting greenhouse gas emissions by 1.4 million tonnes;
(c) that residents of Uriarra have expressed a range of concerns about the solar project proposed at Uriarra, including that they were unaware that the site had been chosen prior to the Solar Auction outcome being announced; and
(d) that the concerns raised by residents of Uriarra Village will be fully considered through the development assessment process set out in the Planning and Development Act; and
(2) calls on the ACT Government to ensure that the call-in powers are not used in regard to the Development Application submitted by the proponent of the solar farm proposed for Uriarra.”.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (10.42): I will start by moving an amendment to Mr Rattenbury’s amendment to Mr Walls’s motion on Uriarra Village:
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