Page 4052 - Week 13 - Tuesday, 17 November 2015
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MS LAWDER: Who was I talking to? I am sorry. I was a bit thrown by that—who I might have been speaking to at the time. Yes, there has been a person preselected who I believe is a chair of a community council. I am sure that person was a bit taken aback by the Chief Minister’s remarks as well.
I believe the councils play an important role in our community. Most especially I believe the Tuggeranong Community Council do a great job in representing the views of their members and the wider community. They have a number of subcommittees, such as an environment one, a transport one and a health and community one. Again, they are all led by volunteers and they undertake enormous hours of work in order to try and represent the views of the community and improve their own communities.
I congratulate those people who are part of community councils. I hope they continue doing that work and do not become discouraged by the words of the Chief Minister. I commend the work of community councils throughout the ACT.
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) (4.38): I thank Ms Lawder for bringing this matter of public importance here today. Canberra is developing into a vibrant capital city, becoming one of the most livable and prosperous cities in the country. As Minister for Planning I hope to see Canberra further mature into a sustainable and more innovative city. Engagement and consultation with the community, I am proud to say, is essential to the work of the Environment and Planning Directorate and, indeed, all functions of the government.
We all know that we have one of the most educated and engaged communities when it comes to planning our city. During the year consultation has occurred on the following projects in my portfolio: the statement of planning intent, the Woden town centre master plan, the Mawson group centre master plan, the Belconnen town centre master plan, the Curtin group centre master plan, the Calwell group centre master plan, the eastern broadacre study, the city and Northbourne urban design framework, the ACT freight strategy and the low emission vehicle strategy. Community councils have made an important contribution to all of these consultations, and continue to do so.
However, it is vitally important that we seek the views of the widest range of Canberrans in demographics, location, age and gender if we are to build a city that is for all Canberrans. Whilst we value the role that all community councils play in the planning of this city, we cannot rely only on their views to guide the city for the future.
No better evidence of this can be found than in the statement of planning intent which outlines the five-year plan for our nation’s capital. The statement is now available online at www.planning.act.gov.au and sets out the short, medium and long-term actions to deliver the best planning outcomes for Canberra.
Throughout a period of six weeks in March to April we were in contact with over 170 members of the community and key stakeholders. This was achieved through workshops, online surveys and feedback forms. Of these, over 120 stakeholders attended six workshops to provide feedback surrounding the statement of planning intent.
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