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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 8 Hansard (19 August) . . Page.. 2737 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

Planning and Environment-Standing Committee-Report No 21-Draft Variation No 173 to the Territory Plan-Heritage Places Register-Residential Precincts (Alt Crescent, Barton; Blandfordia, Braddon; Corroboree Park, Forrest; Kingston/Griffith, Reid; Wakefield Gardens Housing Precincts), dated 10 July 2003, together with a copy of extracts from the relevant minutes of proceedings.

The report was circulated to members out of session. This report has been a long time in coming. It has taken a long time for the question of how we rejig our heritage areas to make its way through the Heritage Council and Planning and Land Management. The Planning and Environment Committee spent considerable time looking at the issues. The committee, generally speaking, were in agreement with the general thrust of the draft variation as put forward by the Heritage Unit but found considerable problems in the documentation and a lack of clarity in thinking.

While we have generally recommended the adoption of draft variation 173, it will not be without more work on the part of the planners. We have asked that the planners go back and rewrite the documentation-not to change its intent, but to ensure its clarity. There are many occasions throughout the report where there is uncertainty as to whether a provision is mandatory or discretionary. There is interchanging use of "shall", "should"and "may", and we have asked that these matters be clarified.

In the process of the hearings, the quality of PALM's consultation with the community was raised on a number of occasions and took up a considerable amount of the committee's and the community's time in considering this draft variation. The theme of the quality of the former Planning and Land Management's consultation has been persistent through a number of variations in the life of this Assembly. The committee believes that the process deserves some attention, so that the issue does not continue and so that the community is actually and fully consulted.

The committee strongly urges the Assembly to accept the report and its recommendations so that the long-term quality impact flowing from draft variation 173 is the preservation of Canberra's heritage precincts and heritage values. I move:

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Report No 22

MRS DUNNE (10.56): I present the following report:

I present a report on the attendance of the committee at the 2003 National Conference of Public Works and Environment Committees between 29 June and 3 July, which was tabled out of session on 8 August. The theme of the conference was "Sustainability of regional development: addressing the triple bottom line."The

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