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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 12 Hansard (18 November) . . Page.. 4210 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

The current heritage registers in the Territory Plan for these precincts include a series of specific requirements that seek to ensure that our heritage values are protected. The requirements have been criticised by community members, professional bodies, the Administrative Appeals Tribunal and various government departments for their lack of clarity and their inability to provide appropriate protection for the precincts.

The heritage precincts review was initiated in response to this, with a seminar called "Managing Change in Heritage Precincts"which was held in November 1999. This was followed by a detailed assessment of the heritage values of the precincts. The review identified a number of potential threats, including the size and form of development, the loss of landscape, inadequate protection of original dwellings and concerns about specific issues such as dominance of garages, hard surfacing and two-storey development.

The review also included a series of community consultation workshops, initiated by Environment ACT, to discuss revised heritage value statements and broad policy directions. This was followed by a detailed survey of all precincts and the development of revised register entries.

ACTPLA considered the findings of the review and agreed to seek public opinion on the proposed changes to the register entries through the draft variation process. The draft variation was released for public comment in August 2001. Copies of relevant parts of the document were distributed to households within the residential precincts covered by the draft variation. A total of 66 written submissions were received as a result of public consultation on the draft variation, with a range of views expressed.

The ratio of comments for and against generally demonstrated that the controls have sought to achieve a balance between protecting heritage significance and planning for change. The draft variation was revised in response to comments and the changes proposed by variation 200 to the residential land use policy.

Mr Speaker, the draft variation was referred to the Planning and Environment Committee on 2 August last year. The committee handed down report No 21 on 10 July this year. The committee's report recommended that the government proceed with draft variation No 173, subject to its rewriting and presentation in simplified terms. The government considered the report and provided the government response out of session by sending a copy to all members of the Assembly on 13 November this year.

While the government acknowledged the committee's aims regarding the presentation and simplicity of the variation document, its format and content are largely constrained by the existing legislation. Nevertheless, in response to the committee's concerns and the passage of variation 200 residential land use policies, the document has been revised with a view to simplifying the controls wherever possible. The specific requirements have been reorganised to clearly separate mandatory controls from those subject to the discretion of the authority. They have also been rephrased and reformatted to simplify the wording and structure of the document.

In addition, a number of specific changes have been incorporated into the final variation. These include:

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