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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 1 Hansard (18 February) . . Page.. 10 ..

MR MOORE: Mr Speaker, pursuant to standing order 246A, I make the following statement on behalf of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment. The statement follows a briefing by officials on draft variation No. 64 on Tuesday, 11 February 1997, and subsequent discussion by members. The actual wording of the statement was agreed to by members on Friday, 14 February 1997. Mr Speaker, this statement refers to draft variation No. 64 to the Territory Plan: B2 commercial land use policies - local centres (Part B2D). Mr Kaine, at the time serving on the committee as deputy chair, took no part in the briefing or the committee's deliberations, reflecting his assumption of ministerial duties.

Members are aware that the Land (Planning and Environment) Act stipulates that each draft variation must be referred by the Executive to an appropriate committee of the Legislative Assembly. The Act also requires the Executive to have regard to any recommendations of that committee before approving or revising the draft variation. In the case of draft variation No. 64, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning referred the paperwork to the Planning and Environment Committee on 6 February 1997. On the following day, the committee considered the draft variation and requested a briefing by officials.

The draft variation proposes to extend the range of uses permitted at local centres. Examples of possible new uses are light industry, such as a print shop; guesthouse; veterinary hospital; community uses, including church and education; industrial trades, such as motor servicing, electrical and lawn-mower repairs; and residential. The draft variation is an important component of the Government's retail policy, Striking a Balance. Aspects of the Government's retail policy were considered by the Planning and Environment Committee in its report No. 20, "Further Retail Policy Measures to Maintain Diversity in the ACT Retail Market". In that report, which came out in November 1996, the committee noted that the Government was preparing a draft variation to the Territory Plan. The committee undertook to give the draft variation careful scrutiny.

Mr Speaker, members of the committee are keenly aware of the serious - even critical - problems besetting many of Canberra's local shopping centres. We are sympathetic to the objective of the draft variation; namely, to enable innovative land uses in local centres. However, we are confident that our community will experience some surprise - and possible outrage - if local residents find that their local shopping centres suddenly, and unexpectedly, become areas of significant light industrial use, church use or educational use or become entirely residential in character. I reiterate that these types of uses will be permitted once the draft variation takes effect.

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