Page 4184 - Week 14 - Thursday, 25 October 1990
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Let me now refer to some general statements in relation to planning within the ACT. The Government acknowledges that the community is entitled to a planning system which is open, accessible and responsive to its needs, as well as being responsive to economic and social development needs. For example, today the Chief Minister was able to indicate to members of the Assembly all the details related to the public consultation that is taking place in relation to the planning documents that have just been produced. Even a member of the Opposition, Mr Connolly, indicated in an interjection that they were very good documents. They provide a firm basis for community consultation in the development of the plan. That is most important.
Since December last year, Mr Deputy Speaker, the Alliance Government has devoted considerable energy to the development of comprehensive planning and land use legislation for the ACT, to provide the consistency and certainty that has been lacking in the planning arena in recent years. Unfortunately, the previous Government played with it but did not really get down to the hard decision making process. It related to two major points.
Mr Berry: You have not yet, either.
MR JENSEN: We have put some Bills on the table, Mr Berry, which is more than your mob did. The package consists of five draft planning Bills - the heritage Bill, the environmental assessment and inquiries Bill, the land use approvals orders Bill and the land leases and management Bills.
Mr Connolly: Will we see the Bills by Christmas?
MR JENSEN: Definitely, Mr Connolly, you will see the Bills well before Christmas; I can assure you of it. Mr Deputy Speaker, I seek a short extension of time.
Leave not granted.
MR CONNOLLY (5.15): The subject of the MPI this afternoon takes us back to where we started at the beginning of the schools debate. The point that the Opposition was consistently making in this schools debate is that the entire social fabric of Canberra is built around the neighbourhood school, that the neighbourhood school is the centrepiece of this town. We referred months and months ago to works such as Ideas for Australian Cities by Professor Stretton, which complimented Canberra on its neighbourhood school planning basis. We reminded the Government of how this neighbourhood planning basis has been commented upon favourably by observers of Canberra and how central it has been to the social fabric of Canberra.
Yet it all fell on deaf ears, until we discovered during the Estimates procedure that there had been a planning authority report on school closures, and we wondered how
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