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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 5239 ..

MRS DUNNE (continuing):

I waited for a spatial plan and for a draft spatial plan only to find a one-line mention of this proposal in an appendix to the plan. The government said in that appendix that it might do something about west Fyshwick. I hoped that the new planning regime would rise above the approach that had been adopted to this proposal by the former department. I hope that the minister sees value in exploring these ideas for the benefit of the ACT community now and well into the future. The government has a tunnel-vision approach to the use of industrial land. It is akin to the minister's recent response as to whether or not an Aldi supermarket should be built at Belconnen Town Centre. The minister was concerned about such a proposal upsetting the retail hierarchy.

The committee discussed at length bulky goods retailing and where it was appropriate to sell such goods. The committee recommended that the government do away with the limitations placed on bulky goods retailing in Mitchell. The minister and the planners were of the view that bulky goods retailing should occur in town centres and not in industrial centres such as Mitchell. It was said that if the process suggested by the committee were followed the government would not make as much money out of bulky goods retailing. It also said that if it sold space in Gungahlin Town Centre for bulky goods retailing it would upset the planning hierarchy-something about which we hear a lot these days.

The government, which is bound by the planning hierarchy, does not realise that the world around it has changed and moved on. The government is talking about 1960s NCDC approaches to things when others are talking about 21st century approaches to retailing. We all know that retailing has changed. The process that was used for the retailing and selling of all sorts of bulk goods is not the same process that was used when I was a kid. However, the process might be similar to the process that was used when Ms Dundas was a kid.

We must move with the times. In this modern age we must look at new possibilities and take the advice of people who say, "If you build bulky goods retailing space in town centres you will not be able to get the rents."People are not prepared to pay rents that would justify building bulky goods retailing spaces in town centres. Those centres should be located in industrial areas or the government must be prepared to sell land in the town centres for much less; therefore that land should be used for a higher and better value. That is a constant theme throughout this report.

Members of the public said to the committee, "We are not being listened to by the planners. They are not hearing what we have to say."The Planning and Environment Committee said to the government, "You must take account of these things and be visionary and forward looking."The government and the minister constantly came back to the committee and said that it did not know what it was talking about.

The government is not creating dialogue and trust and it is not enabling the growth of the community. The government and bureaucratic response to draft variation 175 is a microcosm of much that is wrong with planning in the ACT at the moment. The government believes that it is the repository of all knowledge. At the same time planners are unable or unwilling, or they not given support, to make visionary and innovative statements. The government is constantly putting people down who want to be involved in the future planning of the ACT.

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