Page 1296 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 2021
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ideas or get community to buy in to the process if the land has already been sold. Therefore, it is important that we ensure we get this process right.
This motion builds on Ms Orr’s motion on development in Gungahlin which was passed by this Assembly in February. That motion was to support the further development of the Gungahlin region and town centre and ensuring additional employment opportunities in Gungahlin by ensuring that current sales of development sites incorporate the requirements to support best practice, mixed-use developments. It is important for the community to have the confidence that the blocks under auction tomorrow incorporate the requirements to support best practice, mixed-use developments to ensure that we are creating quality places for people to live, work and play.
I will say a few words about the matter raised by the Speaker in regard to draft variation 364, the Gungahlin town centre precinct code, that is currently the subject of an inquiry by the Standing Committee on Planning, Transport and City Services. I do not want to prejudice or prejudge the outcome of this inquiry. I want the inquiry to be conducted in full, and I have full trust in the members of that committee to diligently and fairly examine the question at hand. I invite everyone who is interested in the future of Gungahlin to put a submission into that inquiry.
I fully acknowledge that the achievement of the parliamentary agreement is sometimes complex and difficult. Like all members who signed the parliamentary and governing agreement, I remain committed to delivering 400 additional public housing dwellings by 2025 and 600 additional affordable rental housing dwellings. The importance of providing safe, secure housing for Canberra’s most vulnerable is important to me.
I note that the proposed auction would not contribute to the achievement of the affordable rental target with all the affordable homes being for sale. This is not to detract from the importance of affordable houses for sale but simply to highlight that the Greens’ emphasis is on affordable rentals. It is critically important to increase the level of affordable rental and public housing stock in close consultation with the community and not in a piecemeal fashion, development application by development application.
I likewise acknowledge that there are significant challenges in land availability, industry, and sector capacity to deliver additional housing, and capital demand on the territory budget to meet these targets. But the parliamentary and governing agreement also mentions some other items, including: facilitate residential development and housing supply while ensuring Canberra remains sustainable, liveable and attractive; improve community confidence in the planning system; lift the quality and sustainability of new developments; improve community consultation and involvement in the development of Canberra; ensure that the planning system continues to deliver affordable housing; and further refine land sale processes to allow major sites to be released for high-quality proposals and not just to the highest financial bidder.
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