Page 1268 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 April 2016
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our city. Community engagement on the strategy has recently closed and will ensure that the voice of Canberrans is heard in finalising the strategy.
Further, this government has been able to harness opportunities available to the ACT through to the federal government’s asset recycling initiative. The initiative delivers real benefits to the ACT community through bonus payments on any sale of government-owned assets. The benefits of this initiative are twofold. Firstly, as I mentioned, there are bonus payments. Together with the dollars earned through the actual sale and the additional bonus dollars, the government will have a greater range of options available, in this case to replace public housing stock across the ACT, delivering a vibrant and inclusive public housing portfolio. The second benefit comes from the on-ground outcomes of increased activity in the building and construction sector through increased demolition work and new construction activity, an economic boost for the ACT as a whole. It is within this context, the actual on-the-ground planning and delivery of that planning, that the benefits of the bill really come into force.
Before I go into detail, I would like to recap the main elements of the planning system, planning 101, if you like. The linchpin of the planning system is the territory plan: a plan that reflects the planning needs of the ACT community, a plan that is developed in consultation with the community and industry to identify the permitted uses of land and the rules and criteria for all development on the land across the ACT.
The Planning and Development Act 2007 sets out the rules the government must follow in varying the territory plan. These rules are necessary and ensure that the government provides a forum for the community to express their views and thoughts, not only through open community consultation but also through the Legislative Assembly process that includes an opportunity, through the committee process, for the community to make further comment.
It is also important to note that the Planning and Development Act 2007, in requiring this active community engagement, complies with the requirements of the Commonwealth Australian Capital Territory (Planning and Land Management) Act 1988. This principle of community engagement is a cornerstone concept throughout the planning act and remains unchanged by this bill.
The next subject in planning 101 is the development assessment process. Currently there are two possible elements to development assessment: the assessment of the proposed development itself against the rules and criteria in the territory plan; and the assessment of the environmental impacts, if any, of the development.
I will firstly speak on the development assessment process for the development against the territory plan requirements. The approval process is an important component of the risk and expense of any development, including urban renewal projects that you see happening along the Northbourne corridor or development of the ACT’s newer suburbs in Molonglo and Gungahlin. For any significant project, a lengthy process not only ties up builders’ capital and accumulates interest expenses and other holding costs before the building work even commences, but also deprives the community of the end product.
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