Page 724 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 5 July 1989
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I agree with Mr Collaery that this is a matter of public importance, that something needs to be done to resolve it, and that the onus clearly lies with the Government which is now responsible for land planning and land use. I can say that any action that the Government might wish to take to review the present arrangements and to consider and put forward proposals for an alternative along the lines that I have just outlined - something that is simple, accessible and responsive - will be totally supported by the Liberal Opposition.
MR JENSEN (3.50): As I prepared for this debate by looking back through much of the previous discussion on this subject, I soon realised that community groups have been seeking some form of process by which they can appeal against planning decisions for some considerable time. As chairman of the Tuggeranong Community Council it was my task to attend many seminars and discussions on the issue of planning appeals, discussions that my colleague Mr Collaery has already alluded to, especially in the dying days of the National Capital Development Commission when it attempted to write a process of public consultation into the legislation that it hoped would keep the commission alive. However, others were marching to a different drum, and the NCDC was to slide into the bowels of Lake Burley Griffin in the run-up to self-government for the ACT. I am sure some of you recall the rather public ceremony that saw the burial of the NCDC on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin.
However, the reason for all this concern with appeals was because the planners had decided that they were all-powerful and that they and they alone knew what was best for Canberra and her citizens. They called the shots, they made the decisions and we, the poor residents, could like it or lump it. Many decisions had been taken without any real, meaningful consultation, and decisions were made to suit the whim of the planners. Never mind if the overall plan with its vision of Canberra was to be ignored. There they were in Northbourne Avenue in their ivory towers, and those in that particular area knew best.
When residents and some enlightened past employees of the NCDC started to say, "Enough is enough", and found the courage, and not inconsiderable sums of money, to fight these issues in the ACT Supreme Court, they started to win the odd case or two and the planners started to change their attitude. It took the noises made by inner city residents as they fought to remove cars parked in their suburban streets and driveways or saw the spread of commercial buildings into residential streets around Civic which threatened the very nature of streets like Torrens Street and the beautiful plane trees that we all know so well. These are the plane trees that tourists come to see in this city because in the autumn they are magnificent.
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