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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 10 Hansard (Tuesday, 24 August 2004) . . Page.. 4067 ..

represents a comprehensive vision for the future growth and development of the city and guides investment decisions by both government and the private sector as we accommodate future growth in Canberra.

We adopted the sustainable transport plan, which is complementary to the spatial plan and demonstrates integrated transport and land use planning principles consistent with the national approach developed by ministers right around the country. These changes focus strongly in particular on high-density development close to where people work, where they use services, and are close to public transport groups. This is key in challenging and addressing one of the key issues of greenhouse gas emissions in our city, which is the use of the private motor vehicle.

Master planning for both the Woden and Belconnen town centres is well advanced. We have introduced the garden city provisions to the territory plan, which have protected substantial areas of suburban Canberra, maintaining its local character while still allowing for urban renewal in a targeted way, again around centres of activity and employment. We have done the detailed master planning for areas such as City West, which is now the subject of a draft territory plan variation and has been the recipient of two ACT chapter Planning Institute of Australia awards, which have been further considered in national forums. We have also got on with the job on the ground—the launch of the Canberra central program, designed to engage in the revitalisation of our city centre.

Mrs Dunne quoted the OECD inquiry into Canberra. That document outlines very clearly that, without a clear strategy to drive the development and future growth of our city centre, we will not attract the level of economic diversity and activity we need to sustain our community into the future. We have launched the Canberra central program, which will dedicate a team of experts to engage with property investors, shopkeepers, business people, community organisations and individual citizens to transform the amenity and performance of Civic as the heart of Canberra.

There is a range of other proposals that I could go through in much detail, but I will not seek to do that now. Instead I will end on the note of future reform. In your speech you, Mr Deputy Speaker, made the point that we have seen the Land Act grow to be a cumbersome and difficult piece of legislation to administer. There were 120 amendments on the floor of this Assembly when it was first introduced in the early 1990s. My colleague Mr Wood is still scarred by the experience!

Quite clearly that legislation must be reformed. This government is the government that has made the investment into ACTPLA, so that work has been started. As announced in the most recent budget, a comprehensive system and reform process is now underway. It is designed to improve the certainty, clarity and timeliness of the decision-making process and—most importantly—to make sure we get good outcomes on the ground. That is the true inheritance of the legacy of the built environment that is the national capital. The government is proud of its record on planning. It is a contentious area—there is no way around that—but, at the same time, we have set out a clear direction and vision for the future growth and development of our city. I am proud of that legacy and look forward to the opportunity to continue with it, hopefully, after the next election.

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