Page 150 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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MR GENTLEMAN: When we did the statement of planning intent, we went to the whole of Canberra and talked about future living for the ACT. We had 26 workshops right across the ACT, with different demographics. All of those indicated they wanted to see a denser Canberra, as I mentioned earlier. With that, and with quite a wide demographic, from elderly groups to younger demographics, all of them wanted to see less greenfields development and more densification for the city. We are responding to that, and we have gone out with the housing choices discussion paper to hear further about what the Canberra community wants to see.
MR PARTON: Minister, what will you do to help Canberrans realise their dream, as stated in the Winton survey, of having a detached house in which to raise a family?
MR GENTLEMAN: I will not pre-empt what the housing choices survey and workshops come out with. But what we are seeing so far are very different aspirations for living in the territory. There are many people, as Mr Parton has just said—and I welcome him to the planning portfolio—who want to live in single residential detached dwellings, but there are many others who want to live in denser accommodation, indeed, in apartment-style accommodation. But there are also many others that want to live in the missing middle, and those are the townhouse-style or row-style accommodations that we see in other cities.
With the workshops for the housing choices discussion paper, we hope to see the Canberra community come back with more detail, working with us on the future of housing in the ACT.
Recycling—container deposit scheme
MS LE COUTEUR: My question is to the Minister for Transport and City Services and relates to the ACT container deposit scheme. New South Wales media reports that containers were ineligible for collection due to strict requirements that containers be empty, uncrushed and unbroken and have their original label attached and readable. Will these requirements also apply to containers under the ACT scheme?
MS FITZHARRIS: I thank Ms Le Couteur for the question and look forward to the introduction of the container deposit scheme later on this year. Yes, as I have stated on a number of occasions, it is very important that we have a container deposit scheme here that aligns with the New South Wales scheme. But it also has to meet the specific requirements in the ACT. On the question of the cans themselves, yes, we will be following the New South Wales scheme.
MS LE COUTEUR: How will the cost to the—I am not sure of the right terminology—the return agent be paid? Who will in fact bear that cost?
MS FITZHARRIS: Of course it is part of wider reforms around product stewardship which we see right across the country in a number of different industries. That is some work that is underway at the moment. It has been significant. There has been both public consultation and very targeted stakeholder consultation. With both the network operator and the scheme coordinator, work is continuing to identify precisely that
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