Page 3430 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 21 September 2005
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forward. I note that the property council was reported by the ABC recently as saying that an independent body was needed. Similarly, the executive director wrote in City News on 11 August 2005:
A renewal corporation set up as an independent statutory authority is best suited to the planning and design outcome for the redevelopment of Civic and City Hill.
She went on to write:
It can’t be distracted by the ongoing responsibilities for planning and land administration elsewhere in the territory.
Likewise, the living city proponents have stated that they think the best way to drive this issue is through an independent authority. The Canberra Times reported on 29 April 2005 that the living city proponents had called for the establishment of a statutory authority, similar to those set up to manage the Kingston foreshore and Parliament House developments, to oversee the project.
The Civic Development Authority would be administered by a board containing representatives of the National Capital Authority and the ACT Planning and Land Authority and persons skilled in the areas of town planning, engineering, architecture, land development and transport planning. Crucially, in addition to the roles of the business community in Canberra, the bill also prescribes the involvement of members from the ACT community, with at least two members of the board prescribed as community representatives. That would provide an opportunity for the community’s views to be provided not only in consultation on the development but also as part of the ongoing and long-term progress of what would be a 15 to 20-year project for our city. It would provide the opportunity for the community to have ongoing participation, something that sadly has been lacking from some other recent community consultations.
Mr Speaker, the bill also proposes that a master plan be developed to prescribe and control development within the area. The master plan would provide a strategic framework for development of the area. It would be crucial in ensuring that a cohesive vision for the revitalisation of the area would be able to become a reality. This master planning process is used in other legislative regimes, such as the Commonwealth Airports Act. In this case, the master plan would be incorporated into the territory plan for the designated area.
It is important that, in addition to any commercial or residential development within the Civic development area, community space and cultural facilities be provided. The development of the master plan, which would prescribe genuine community consultation, would assist in identifying and meeting the need for such facilities in this area.
The bill sets out two mandatory periods of public consultation as part of the master planning process: the first by way of consultation and input to the authority board at the time of development of the master plan and the second prior to the provision of the master plan to the minister so that the community can also provide its input on the finalised concept prior to notification. These elements of consultation should go a long
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