Page 462 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 18 February 2015
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of the city we want to become, and all of us in this place must be mindful that this will, at times, require a paradigm shift on how our city works, how our city grows and how our city changes to meet contemporary challenges.
But the challenges we will face as we grow bring wonderful opportunities, principally the opportunity to do better now than we have done in the past, the opportunity to use urban renewal to showcase the best of environmental, social and financial sustainability and the opportunity to cement Canberra as a city building its future, not one jealously hoarding a stale past. I commend Ms Fitzharris for her motion.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Planning, Minister for Roads and Parking, Minister for Workplace Safety and Industrial Relations, Minister for Children and Young People and Minister for Ageing) (11.58): I rise today to support Ms Fitzharris’s motion and I am pleased to be able to speak on this important issue of urban renewal. As we discussed in the Assembly last week, Canberra is facing the challenges of the 21st century posed by population growth, climate change and energy use and we need to position Canberra so that we can achieve a sustainable future.
The Chief Minister spoke last week about the need for urban renewal and how this will help Canberra become a modern and dynamic city with a strong urban core. I am pleased to say that the ACT planning strategy, adopted by the government in 2012, recognises the drivers for change and the need for us as a community to respond accordingly. The approach being taken in the planning strategy builds on the strengths of Canberra’s planning legacy, such as its metropolitan structure and transport network. Integrating land use and transport planning will contribute to the development of Canberra as a compact and efficient city and will deliver on the ACT government’s vision for a connected, livable and prosperous city built around urban renewal. As our city grows towards a population of 500,000 over the next 20 years it is becoming increasingly important for us to address the challenges of creating a livable, resilient and connected place for all Canberrans and those in the surrounding region.
Transport for Canberra, also adopted by the government in 2012, provides the foundation for transport planning in the ACT over the next 20 years, with the objective of improving everyone’s mobility alongside a choice of conventional travel and convenient travel. This will be done by putting in place actions to increase public transport and active travel mode share. One way to do this is by investing in significant public transport projects such as capital metro.
The ACT planning strategy and transport for Canberra were developed after considerable research and analysis and reinforce our intention for a more compact, resilient and efficient city. These important policies are delivered in part through statutory documents such as the territory plan. However, they are not only documents that stand still. They, and the territory plan, must respond to the changes that are occurring in our community.
One example of how the government is working on this program of urban renewal is through the omnibus territory plan variation process. The Environment and Planning Directorate has produced an omnibus territory plan variation to support the land release program and the revitalisation of the public housing portfolio. Numerous
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