Page 1047 - Week 04 - Thursday, 1 April 1993
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The first public hearing is set down for next Tuesday in the ground floor meeting room of the Belconnen Churches Centre from 1.00 pm to 6.00 pm. The second public hearing has been arranged for Wednesday, 7 April, in the community room of the Tuggeranong Town Centre Library, again from 1.00 pm to 6.00 pm. The purpose of both these hearings is to hear public comment on issues that are specific to the north side and south side respectively. The committee will hold a third public hearing on Tuesday, 20 April, here at the Assembly building. This meeting will hear public comment on issues of principle in relation to planning. At a further public hearing on Wednesday, 21 April, the ACT Planning Authority will be asked to publicly respond to all of the matters raised in these three hearings.
At this stage the committee hopes to wrap up its report on the draft Territory Plan by early May in order to have the report tabled in the Assembly on or about Tuesday, 11 May. The report then will lie on the table. Members of the Assembly are aware that the Government is required to have regard to the committee's recommendations before finalising the planning variation. I should stress, Madam Speaker, that the committee is not wedded to the above timetable. If matters arise which lengthen the time necessary to properly consider the draft Territory Plan, the committee accepts that some blow-out in the reporting time will occur. In large part, this depends on the response of the public to the call for comment on the draft. If members of this Assembly are aware of any individual or group who believe that their concerns about the draft plan have not been appropriately addressed by the ACT Planning Authority, then I urge them to ask such persons to contact the secretary of the committee urgently.
As I have indicated, Madam Speaker, the documentation associated with the draft plan is massive and the committee is carefully working through it. Members have been greatly helped by the Chief Planner, Mr Tomlins, and his staff. Each member of the committee has received one or more individual briefings on the documentation, and the committee as a whole has been briefed to date by officials of the Planning Authority, the Department of the Environment, Land and Planning and the ACT Housing Trust. Specific attention has been paid to date to the following elements of the draft Territory Plan: The handling of issues surrounding public and open spaces, and rural leases; land use policies in town centres; and the consultation process used to develop the draft plan. Madam Speaker, in relation to a number of those we are greatly appreciative of the amount of detail which has been provided to the Planning Committee by officials of those organisations. As they say, every day you live and learn. The history of how Canberra, as an entity, has been developed and the issues surrounding future development that have been provided by the agencies have been greatly appreciated by me as chair of this committee.
In closing, I wish to assure members of the Assembly that the Planning Committee is carefully considering the myriad of matters raised in the draft Territory Plan and is most anxious to get it right. In a cooperative spirit of accord, my colleagues and I are endeavouring to ensure that the final planning document provides the thorough and comprehensive guide to the ACT's future growth which the community expects and deserves to get out of this process.
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