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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 2 Hansard (20 February) . . Page.. 415 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

stakeholders in our suburbs have breathing space while the development of neighbourhood plans is put in place.

Once neighbourhood plans are in place, once the revised residential land use policy is in place, that limit will no longer apply, because, for the first time in our suburbs, we will not be relying on a one-size-fits-all approach. The Territory Plan, as administered by the previous government, said that dual occupancy could happen anywhere as long as the blocks were of a certain size. That is a one-size-fits-all approach, that is a formula that is applied in a dehumanising manner, and that was the policy of the previous government. But we are saying that we will have an approach that reflects the individual characteristics of a suburb. There will be a need for uniformity, there will be a need for an underlying and consistent set of values, principles, guidelines and requirements that apply across the city, but there will also be the capacity for area specific policies that reflect the individual characteristics of our garden city suburbs. That is what the neighbourhood planning approach is all about.

Mrs Dunne also criticised the government's commitment to establishing an independent statutory planning and land management authority. She said, "How can it be independent when the minister can tell it what to do?" Most of the statutory authorities which are independent, such as the Gungahlin Development Authority and the Kingston Foreshore Development Authority, both of which were established under the previous administration, can be subject to direction.

I have spelt out very clearly and the Labor Party has spelt out very clearly in its planning policy that, where we believe it appropriate, the proposed planning authority will be subject to directions, directions which will be tabled in this place. They will not be hidden away. It will not be a case of a phone call, like it was with Brendan Smyth or Gary Humphries, to say, "This is the government's policy; just do it." There will be written directions tabled in this place, transparent, open and accountable, which is the approach we want to adopt to planning in our city.

Mrs Dunne was very critical of the fact that I have announced a task force to implement this policy. First of all, is Mrs Dunne suggesting that I should not be implementing my election commitments? That would be a very interesting approach from the opposition. Mrs Dunne pretends not to understand, but I am sure she does, that the establishment of a newer agency, such as this one, is a complex piece of work. It requires changes to legislation, it requires an analysis of the existing land act, which is probably one of the most complex acts that this territory administers, and it requires the development of a new model in terms of implementation of a role previously not undertaken by government, land development, and these things require detailed working through. The policy is clear.

I do not think anyone would expect an opposition to prepare every single amendment for the complete changes to the land act and the complete operation of land development so that it can just happen on day one. What an unrealistic and absurd expectation! The task force is doing the work on the implementation plan and on the legislation needed to put our policy into effect. I have signalled very clearly the timeframe in which that will happen and I have signalled the intention of the government in that regard.

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