Page 4273 - Week 15 - Tuesday, 20 November 1990

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(d) such constructions meet specified standards of workmanship and materials;

(e) such constructions shall be at least partially screened and softened in appearance by landscape planting;

(f) appropriate procedures for neighbours objections and appeals machinery available to all parties are established; and

(g) permission has been granted in writing from the appropriate authorities (or the ACT Heritage Committee where appropriate) to construct such a fence/wall.

Mr Speaker, I believe that the report tabled before us today provides considered and appropriate recommendations on the future direction of one of Canberra's most contentious planning issues, and that is why the committee certainly has my full support in relation to these particular recommendations.

There is one other area that I specifically want to comment on, and that is section 5 of the report, in particular paragraphs 5.6 and 5.7. That is not to say that I do not support all the recommendations in the report - I certainly do - but in the time allowed I would like to touch briefly on those. They are issues that have been raised by the community at large for some considerable time. In a statement to the Legislative Assembly on 23 October - and this is stated in the report - the Government has already foreshadowed that a series of new measures will be introduced next year in an attempt to control the dog problem by amending the Dog Control Act 1975. (Extension of time granted) The committee and, in particular, I want to say, I strongly endorse these proposed new measures. I do not believe that they can come quickly enough. I think this is something that has been around the agenda for quite some time. The committee recommended that:

the proposed new measures aimed at bringing the dog problem under control be introduced as a matter of urgency;

adequate resources, including staff, are provided to ensure that the new policies are fully enforced; and

the implementation of these new control measures be subject to ongoing review.

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