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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 7 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2322 ..

2.

I table the Land (Planning and Environment) Regulations (Amendment).

1. Earlier this year, I tabled regulations relating to the remission and increase of change of use charges payable under the Land (Planning and Environment) Act 1991. Those regulations, and the regulations I now table, allow the amendments to that Act, under the Land (Planning and Environment) (Amendment) Act (No.3) 1996, to take full effect.

2. The changes to the Act and its regulations have been developed with a view to achieving an appropriate balance of interests within the community in planning and land management issues, as was the Government's response to the Stein Report last year and all the decisions we have taken in relation to planning.

3. It is often impossible for the Government or the Assembly to fully satisfy the interests of every individual or group within the community, and in relation to planning and land management matters, this has always been, I suspect, will always be, the case. As I said, these questions are ones for balanced decisions, not unilateral ones. The debate on leasehold, betterment, residential development, and so on, will continue for some time yet.

4. For that reason it is vital that we, as this Territory's governing body, keep in mind the need to weigh all of the issues and interests carefully, and resist making changes that benefit only some members of the community to the detriment of others - those interests must be balanced.

5. The amending regulations are necessarily complex in places, and members are urged to consider them carefully as a package rather than viewing the provisions in isolation. I think it is appropriate to outline the more important aspects of the amendments.

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6. The amendments to the Land Act made a number of significant changes to the requirements in relation to development proposals. These regulations give effect to many of those changes by providing:

. for certain activities, such as a home business, to be deemed consistent with permitted uses under a lease;

. for the prescribed period for determination of development applications;

. for the period within which a person must lodge an objection to a development application;

. for exemptions from the requirement to have certain types of development approved under Part Vl of the Act;

. for exemptions from public notification requirements in relation to development applications; and

. for exemptions from applicant and third party appeals in relation to development applications.

7. Certain other provisions in the Regulations are also amended to correct references to processes under the amended Act.

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