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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 4 Hansard (20 April) . . Page.. 1020 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

variation No. 109 sets the building height and density for specific areas, the broad staging sequence, and also introduces a requirement for section master plans which set the context for individual developments.

The urban housing code addresses the issue of streetscape and landscape, building appearance and neighbourhood character, courtyard walls, site planning, street setbacks, building envelope and siting, privacy, on-site car parking and access, private open space, communal open space and landscaping, security, design for reduced resource and energy consumption, dwelling entry and interior, site facilities, and housing on traffic routes. The finalisation of the draft variation and the urban housing code will provide a higher level of certainty for all residents and allow individuals to decide whether they want to stay, invest in their properties, or be party to a redevelopment proposal.

The Standing Committee on Urban Services considered the draft variation on a number of occasions and, in report No. 23 of April 1999, endorsed the draft variation proposals. In addition to the endorsement, the committee made five other recommendations on which I would like to make a few comments. One was that appendix III.3, the urban housing code, be endorsed with the addition of the word "blocks" in element 6, "Building Envelope and Siting", which would then read:

The Government supports this suggestion and the word "blocks" has been added to the relevant area in the urban housing code.

The second was that PALM prepare a document, to be freely available to the public, that sets out the manner in which it will handle the consultation process in relation to the section master plans. This is agreed and the document will be prepared by PALM and made publicly available. The committee also suggested that PALM be provided with extra resources to ensure that the additional work associated with the preparation and management of section master plans is performed quickly, efficiently and to a high planning standard, and by appropriately qualified and experienced personnel. That is a matter that we will consider partly in the budget context but also through the reallocation of resources. The development of section master plans will increasingly become more important, and we will need to ensure that this activity is appropriately resourced.

The next suggestion was that the Standing Committee on Urban Services be provided with regular updates by the Minister on the manner in which the proposed variation is implemented and that a fuller assessment be provided to the committee in six months, that is, November 1999. PALM will provide me with regular updates in relation to this variation and I will pass those on to the committee as I receive them. PALM has also undertaken to provide a detailed assessment of the implementation of the variation to both me and the committee by November 1999.

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