Page 3680 - Week 12 - Thursday, 25 November 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
We want to see integrity in the system. We want to ensure that there is sufficient independence and expertise for assessment and review. Greater integrity means that the decision-making bodies and entities involved in the planning system should be adequately resourced. They need enough people, and they need adequately skilled and qualified people.
They need the right tools, including modern IT systems and 3D mapping. Planning decisions need to be held to account, monitored thoroughly and enforced transparently. What we see built on the ground should match the laws and systems in place to approve them. The system should also give the community the right to appeal decisions—something that call-in powers erase.
Finally, we want to ensure that reviews of planning decisions are assessed quickly by properly resourced review bodies. Review bodies play an important role in providing checks and balances. If they are not resourced to do their job properly, they cannot provide accountability and transparency.
Why are all of these things important? It is because we are living in a climate emergency. It is because we have an extinction crisis. It is because we have a housing affordability crisis. People need homes but we cannot keep sprawling to build them. We need to do it within our existing footprint.
The ACT is a leader in so many areas of policy. I would like to see a new planning system that leads the way, too. We should not race to the bottom and take the worst standards from other jurisdictions. We should improve on others all around Australia.
I was really pleased to see that the directorate took on board feedback about stakeholder consultation during this review. I was delighted to hear Minister Gentleman report back on consultations with stakeholders this week. I look forward to seeing the exposure draft in February, and I am glad that there will be a three-month public consultation period at that detailed stage.
We have also set a lot of targets that we need to meet in our planning and our parks and conservation area. We are continuing to watch closely the infill and greenfield outcomes each year, and whether or not we are meeting the 70 per cent infill and 30 per cent greenfield targets that we have set. We Greens actually have a target of 80 per cent, with a long-term view to staying entirely within our existing urban footprint. The current 70 per cent infill target consists of private and public investment in land, and I am keen to see the creative ways we will use to build affordable housing that meets this target.
We cannot keep sprawling forever. But there are challenges. There is much to protect within our border and outside it. A lot of remaining greenfield land has significant biodiversity values. Canberra has a lot of grasslands, and precious habitat and wildlife. We need to protect these for future generations and in their own right.
We are keeping a close eye on the western edge study, to ensure that as much of it is protected as possible, and to make sure that we choose those really precious areas to
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video