Page 950 - Week 04 - Thursday, 7 May 2020
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conservation officers to take into account real-time factors for reserve closures when directing the public to leave a reserve.
The first amendment to the Planning and Development Act is about ensuring that the comments of the newly established national capital design review panel are provided as part of development applications. The amendments which introduced the design review panel initially only required development applications to lodge their response to the review panel’s comments. Lodgement of the response without the panel’s original comments makes it difficult to provide context for the public who wish to engage with the development application. The amendment requires that the development proponent must include the panel’s comments with a development application and that the response to the comments must be in writing.
The second amendment to the Planning and Development Act inserts a new power for the Planning and Land Authority to extend the time frame for commencing a development after the approval takes effect. The new power is to provide support to the development industry and will allow developments that would otherwise not proceed due to inflexible time frames to be extended and kept alive during periods of significant challenges, such as the COVID-19 emergency we are all currently experiencing.
The power to extend the commencement of a development will allow businesses a reasonable period to plan and resolve financing, workforce and supply chain issues. This amendment is a positive economic stimulus initiative that, I hope, will assist the development industry and local businesses to keep Canberrans employed and contributing to the territory’s economy during this time.
The power will be supported by a set of guidelines which will specify the circumstances in which an application can be made, the information to be provided, and the length of extension that the authority will consider for different types of development approvals. The guidelines will ensure the power is used in unique circumstances, including affecting the timing of a development, such as impacts from the COVID-19 emergency.
The amendment to the Utilities (Technical Regulation) Act is a technical amendment to allow for the technical regulator to delegate their functions under the act. Under the current arrangements, the technical regulator is also the Director-General of the Environment, Planning, and Sustainable Development Directorate and their sign-off is required on every utility installation regulated under the act, regardless of the size. Inserting an express delegation power will allow the regulator to delegate approvals for small systems, such as rooftop solar plants, to public servants. This brings the act in line with other legislation which creates statutory positions.
The amendments to the Waste Management and Resource Recovery Act are minor policy changes to definitions in the act. This bill amends the definitions of “reverse vending machine” and “collection point” and “collection point operator” to exclude them from the regulatory requirements which apply to waste facilities. It is obvious that reverse vending machines and recycling collection points do not have the same
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