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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 9 Hansard (20 August) . . Page.. 2477 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

this city, in the lead-up to the last election, which highlighted the very serious and detrimental impact the previous government's planning policies were having-particularly on established, inner suburbs of Canberra. There was also concern for many other suburbs in Canberra.

The level of community concern was such that it led the National Trust to place nine Canberra suburbs on its endangered places list for 2001. These were the suburbs of O'Connor, Ainslie, Braddon, Reid, Turner, Red Hill, Yarralumla, Forrest and Griffith. The National Trust said that all of these were threatened by increased housing density, infill and the planning policies of the previous ACT government.

Mr Deputy Speaker, that is a serious step for any body to take. The move of the Australian Council of National Trusts to place these nine Canberra suburbs on its endangered places list was one which reaffirmed, for many in our community, the very serious concern they had with the previous government's ad hoc approach to development and redevelopment in these areas. Last week, the Australian Council of National Trusts released its report card on the endangered places list for last year, as well as releasing its new endangered places list for this year.

According to the Australian Council of National Trusts, the protection of Canberra's garden suburbs was the one substantial success of the 2001 endangered places campaign and, to quote the trust, "demonstrates how constructive community-driven resolution can be".

In its report on last year's outcomes of its endangered places listing, the trust stated that the incoming ACT government responded quickly to community concerns by restricting rampant development in the garden suburbs of Canberra and has now embarked on a major program of community consultation to establish future planning arrangements for Canberra. This is a model which could be adopted in relation to other urban precincts still very much at risk-the west end in Perth, for example, and the east end in Adelaide.

I am very proud that the ACT government is in a position to be seen by the pre-eminent heritage and conservation body in this country that our planning policies are a model which other jurisdictions should look at when it comes to managing redevelopment in established urban areas.

The initiative credited with achieving this turnaround, and the removal of the endangered status of the nine Canberra suburbs, was primarily put down to draft variation 200 to the Territory Plan. That draft variation is currently out for public comment. The government has called the draft variation the garden city variation. We have done so for very good reasons-because it focuses pre-eminently on protecting the garden city characteristics of Canberra suburbs, whilst still allowing for appropriate and responsible change.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the variation implements a number of important changes. The ones I would like to draw members' attention to today include the designation of residential areas into suburban and general areas, and the specific planning controls and objectives that are placed for each of them.

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