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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 10 Hansard (5 September) . . Page.. 3257 ..

9.

supplemented by a Preliminary Assessment (of environmental concerns) or be referred to the former National Capital Planning Authority for their agreement. This lack of overview and some subsequent bureaucratic hurdles caused consternation and increased costs to applicants. It engendered a degree of distrust in the community at large because the process was seen to stop and start frequently.

Members may know that public notification has been streamlined also. An Applications Secretariat within PALM handles the yellow signs, letters to neighbours and press advertisements of notification centrally. We had found certain deficiencies about who was notified when applicants were asked to do the notification. The Secretariat can now ensure that and ensure also that people who seek details of an application are given full information and assistance to interpret it.

A further initiative is that the decision of each application is accompanied by a detailed Statement of Reasons for that decision and an assessment of any objections or comments raised through notification. The openness of this process is a mark of this Government's commitment to accountability.

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