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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 4 Hansard (9 April) . . Page.. 844 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

use facilities as identified in recommendation 8 of the committee's report are often best located in group centres.

However, the nature and scale and preferred location for the proposed uses will be subject to the outcome of this study and possibly a more specific study of Kippax and the surrounding area, if deemed necessary. If these studies confirm the committee's recommendations about provision of a new community centre, a site or sites will be identified and reserved.

Variation 158 retains the existing health centre site at Kippax as a community facility land use policy. To use the health centre site for retail purposes would require a preliminary assessment and a further variation to the Territory Plan.

Finally, the committee recommended that PALM improve the notification process for variations, especially in relation to whether a draft variation had been revised. The notification process has now been changed to provide a letter to each respondent in addition to the current statutory advertisements notifying that a draft variation has been submitted to the minister for referral to the committee. The letter indicates whether the recommended final variation has or has not been revised in response to public comment. In addition, the recommended final variation is now placed on the PALM website.

Mr Speaker, it does need to be noted, however, that there are occasions when addresses are not given or listed publicly and when petitions with hundreds of names are received, and therefore on rare occasions it may not be possible to send a letter to all respondents.

I would now like to speak briefly to variation No 176 to the Territory Plan, concerning the Bruce central precinct. This draft variation was released for public comment in May 2001. Draft variation No 176 proposed to vary the Territory Plan to incorporate the following land use policies:

• approximately 20 hectares of residential land with a new B14 area specific policy overlay allowing for medium-density housing up to three storeys in height;
• approximately 30 hectares of commercial E (office sites) land with an expanded range of uses, including residential, club and hotel and provision for landmark buildings up to five storeys in height; and
• at least four hectares of urban open space in two hilltop parks which connect with pedestrian and cycle routes through and outside the precinct.

Members will be aware that the government is currently investigating options for a western alignment of the Gungahlin Drive extension. It is envisaged that a further variation of the Territory Plan will be undertaken and will affect some of the land covered by variation No 176 when the details of that new alignment are resolved. However, the government does not intend to delay finalisation of variation No 176 until the Gungahlin Drive issues are resolved, as this could unnecessarily delay development within the bulk of the Bruce central precinct, which is unaffected by the Gungahlin Drive options. Any issues will be dealt with as part of that future variation to the Territory Plan.

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