Page 1657 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
I also wish to comment briefly on the format of the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee's report to the Assembly. The committee has presented a report, which is usual. However, it has also presented an amended Territory Plan, formerly annexure A, now known as attachment A to the report. Again, this is a first for this Assembly, as was the releasing of embargoed copies of these documents to the media to ease familiarisation with the material.
I now wish to turn to the major issues commented on by our committee in its report and in attachment A. I agree with Mr Kaine that the Territory Plan is not a strategic plan. This, I believe, is the Territory Plan's major failing. Indeed, the strategic plan should have been written before the Territory Plan or, as I believe it should be referred to, the Territory land use plan. The Government has gone some way to redressing this situation by its adoption of the reference "Canberra in the Year 2020", and the committee has sought to include detailed information regarding the ACT and subregional strategy in the amended plan.
The planning principles and policies section contains important amendments with regard to the section on metropolitan structure. The purpose and function of town centres is described, as is the planned hierarchy of Civic, town, group and local centres. The suburban unit or neighbourhood unit will continue to be the basic building block of the town structure. This improved delineation of metropolitan structure carries on the concepts of the Metropolitan Policy Plan now effectively superseded. I believe that it will also be important to further develop precinct plans for particular areas and suburban plans. I know that the Yarralumla Residents Association is keen to develop a plan for the development of Yarralumla. I believe that we need to encourage communities to work together with planners to achieve cohesively planned communities and neighbourhoods.
The planning principles and policies section also contains important amendments with regard to the section on residential areas. Planning will seek to protect and enhance the amenity, safety and any special qualities of residential areas, and due consideration will be given to the views expressed by the community when assessing development proposals which have the potential to change the character of residential areas. The shape and structure of suburbs will continue to be related to the topography of the area, and preferred locations for higher density housing will be adjacent to town centres, principal public transport routes and group and local shopping centres. The provision of public housing throughout most Canberra suburbs will continue to be a feature of our city.
The section on transport and access continues to emphasise the need to extend the peripheral parkway system to minimise traffic on internal road systems through town centres and residential areas, thus protecting local amenity. The committee has determined that more extensive areas of urban open space be set aside as public land, and the chair of our committee has mentioned a few of those in this Assembly this morning. The more significant of these include open space to the west of Lake Ginninderra, along Sullivans Creek in Turner, and along Florey Drive in the Umbagong District Park. All of these areas are highly valued by their local and regional communities and warrant protection and enhancement for existing and future generations of Canberrans.
The committee has recommended that improved energy efficiency controls apply to future building developments, with a four-star rating system to be introduced by July 1995. The committee recognises that architectural design for buildings needs improving, with best practice becoming the norm for energy efficiency
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .