Page 932 - Week 03 - Thursday, 10 April 2014

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This amendment is being made in response to concerns expressed to me and the Chief Minister by members of the community about changes being made to developments which are under construction.

Clause 27 of the bill adds two new schedules to schedule 2 of the regulation. Schedule 2 lists developments in the merit track which are subject to minor public notification only. Clause 27 of the bill adds merit track development applications for minor additions or alterations to a residential unit within a multi-unit residential development to the list of minor notification matters.

Under this amendment minor notification would be permitted if the change to a residential unit results in additional gross floor area that is not greater than 10 per cent of the existing gross floor area or does not add more than 20 square metres to the gross floor area. These matters have been added to the list in schedule 2 because the current requirement for major notification is considered to be disproportionate to the scale of the relevant development and as such is not warranted.

Clause 17 of the bill amends section 25(3) of the Planning and Development Regulation. This regulation provides that a development application must be accompanied by a survey certificate unless otherwise prescribed. The act provides that a survey certificate is not required for development applications for residential development less than 75 square metres and section 25(3) provides that a survey certificate is not required for commercial or industrial development of less than 150 square metres.

The reference to commercial or industrial development has led to some inconsistencies. Under the current law a survey certificate is still required for other non-residential development of similar or smaller impact. For example, a small-scale community facility of less than 150 square metres would still require a survey certificate.

A larger area is permitted for commercial or industrial development than residential development because the impact of the development would not be as significant as development in a residential area. The same rationale could also apply to other non-residential development. To resolve these inequities and inconsistencies the bill amends section 25(3) to refer to non-residential development rather than industrial or commercial development.

The bill also contains a number of minor technical and editorial amendments to acts and regulations. These amendments include updating cross-references to other legislation and the clarification of existing legislative requirements. I commend the bill to the Assembly.

Debate (on motion by Mr Coe) adjourned to the next sitting.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body Amendment Bill 2014

Mr Rattenbury, pursuant to notice, presented the bill, its explanatory statement and a Human Rights Act compatibility statement.


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