Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 2 Hansard (6 March) . . Page.. 609 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

PALM have done an enormous amount of work in education, in the provision of information and in the streamlining of the application process. In relation to the provision of information, PALM has established a design advisory service operating out of the community recovery centre in Lyons.

That service has been so popular that its hours have had to be extended and it is now operating throughout the week, as well as on weekends. It is a free service, by appointment. People who have lost their homes can come to the service and get information on the technical requirements they need to be conscious of in rebuilding and the design issues that they might like to take account of, particularly energy efficiency and water efficiency measures.

The design advisory service is staffed both by the qualified technical staff from PALM-in the building, electrical and plumbing control area as well as the people on the development approval side of things-and by a qualified architect, who has very kindly been supplied on a roster basis by the Royal Australian Institute of Architects. The service has been very successful.

In addition to that, the government has issued for free over 800 sets of building plans-plans of houses that have been destroyed. We hold all building plans here in the ACT, and they are normally required for a fee. They have been issued free of charge to anyone who has lost their home, and that has also been a significant response.

In addition to that, there has been a streamlining of the development application process. There are three categories that members should be conscious of. The first is where people are seeking to rebuild largely in accordance with previously approved plans. The second is where they are seeking to rebuild without significant addition to the building height, the number of dwellings or the total floor area-that is to give that flexibility. The third is for a redevelopment beyond the scope of that previous category-for example, if people are building a substantially larger dwelling, are building on significantly larger floor space or want to build more than one dwelling. The planning approval process has been put in place to address each of these categories.

For category 1-that is, rebuilding essentially in line with the previously approved plans-no development application is required. We have waived the requirement for a DA, which means that people can now progress straight to the building plan stage and get on with rebuilding. That is a significant streamlining of the process for people there.

In relation to category 2-that is, rebuilding with some, but not major, modification-public consultation processes have been waived unless people are building closer to side or rear boundaries than where the house previously stood. Where there is no detrimental impact because there is no impingement on the setbacks, public consultation has been waived. That is a significant streamlining of process.

Also, rather than have the high quality sustainable design process as a mandatory process, it has been more advisory and guidance based to try and get better outcomes, while still streamlining the process. That has been done in relation to category 2 dwellings.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .