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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 4 Hansard (28 March) . . Page.. 1095 ..

MR SMYTH (continuing):

ACTCode has a strong focus on building appearance and neighbourhood character, requiring a whole neighbourhood approach to residential development. It addresses some of the ad hockery that we put up with currently. The intent is to ensure that the appearance of developments from the street and other public areas is attractive and visually compatible with the area and to ensure that external colours and finishes of buildings and structures above roofs are not excessively intrusive or likely to cause a loss of amenity to the streetscape or neighbours.

Additional specific requirements are being introduced for garages and carports, including basement parking in multiunit developments, the intent being that they do not dominate the streetscape. More stringent attention is paid to site planning, building design, on-site plan, front boundary setbacks, building envelope and siting, privacy, on-site car parking and access, private open space, security, and design for reduced resources and energy consumption. I am sure that those are issues that we have all had contact with constituents about, and it gives greater protection.

Site analysis plans, expected to help streamline the approvals process considerably if they are prepared early in the design process, will be mandatory for every substantial residential development application, addressing the context of the development, planning and development intentions for the site, adjacent properties and the site's physical characteristics. Again, not being mandatory now, that is a step forward.

No longer will people be able to buy a block in an established area, pick their dream home out of a range of plans and determine how the two go together to make the whole, when we all know that often they do not. Practitioners designing dwellings will need to become street smart in negotiating acceptable economic and design solutions. That includes negotiating with neighbours and other members of the community to design, site and build dwellings which maximise quality outcomes within the neighbourhood context.

There has been much discussion about ACTCode. Some of it has been scaremongering and some people have been saying the policies do not go far enough, especially as far as tree preservation is concerned. An extensive tree protection policy is currently being prepared by the government to address this issue and it will complement ACTCode. The government understands what the community values about the amenity and unique qualities of this beautiful city. It is now more challenging to achieve outcomes that everyone will be happy with, but the common objective remains the same.

ACTCode truly is one of the tools for retaining these qualities and this amenity and, at the same time, allowing for the city to evolve. It has been developed through extensive consultation over several years. Its intent is once again to place Canberra in a position of leadership in terms of the quality of our streets and our suburbs. Against the framework and criteria set out in the Territory Plan, it is performance-based rather than prescriptive, with the focus being on achieving quality outcomes rather than specifying numerous detailed rules. (Another extension of time granted.)

The performance base enables more innovative design solutions to get through the system, but it does challenge those who are designing dwellings and approving them to think outside the box-ticking approach. There are also specific requirements, including that of section master plans for all multiunit redevelopment of formerly single-dwelling

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