Page 4413 - Week 12 - Thursday, 26 October 2017
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well. The design review panel will be a valuable tool in setting the expectations for improved city-wide outcomes in terms of the built form and its relationship with the landscape, particularly for development along our main avenues. The panel will provide independent expert advice for public and private sector development proposals, including public places.
Establishing a single design review panel in the ACT will ensure that there is consistency in advice and processes. This will provide greater potential to attract the best urban planning thinkers and designers to contribute to significant development proposals across our city. The experience from other jurisdictions demonstrates that there are several benefits to design review for the community, developers, design professionals and government. These include improved design quality, reduced project costs for the developer and faster development application approval time lines.
In June last year I announced the improving the ACT building regulatory system reform program. As a result, the government introduced new legislation last year to help prevent people with poor compliance histories from holding builders licences and to expand statutory warranties for residential buildings to all residences regardless of height.
The government confirmed its commitment to the reforms by including funding in the 2017-18 budget under the building a better city initiatives. The building reform has three components. They are: to implement a full range of reforms in the improving the ACT building regulatory system program over the next four years, including further work and consultation on policy matters not covered in the previous discussion paper; to create a new policy and legislative framework and an administrative program for auditing and inspecting building work in the territory, based on the risks inherent in each project; and to establish an audit system for licensed building surveyors.
Other key achievements in the planning and land management portfolio over these first 100 days include swimming pool safety education, through the backyard lifeguard campaign; the DA finder app version 2 upgrade; community panels established to guide Kippax and Curtin centre planning; the Gungahlin town centre refresh released for consultation, including the first live Facebook engagement; active living principles and draft changes to the Territory Plan released for public comment; end-of-trip facilities draft variation to the Territory Plan also released for public comment; and education and youth engagement planning-related education and consultations at high schools and colleges.
I would like to touch on my commitment to provide Canberrans with healthy waterways. Canberrans are lucky to enjoy an array of natural rivers and creeks and man-made lakes and ponds, but the health of our waterways is not as good as it could be. Over the next four years we will be constructing projects under the healthy waterways project, also known as the basin priority project. This will include new wetlands and bio-retention systems built across Canberra and the restoration of some of our older urban stormwater drains back into more naturalised creek environments. These projects will improve the quality of our water as well as improve amenity for nearby residents and contribute to the health of the broader environment.
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