Page 2352 - Week 07 - Thursday, 17 August 2006
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development assessment process, improve transparency and add certainty to the rules and procedures applying to each development application.
Key changes to the planning system include the following: the level of impact assessment will be more closely matched to the potential environmental impact of a development; simplification of the assessment process will also reduce duplication and improve clarity and certainty; development applications will only be referred to other government agencies that have a statutory role relevant to the development proposal—the allowed response time will be 15 working days; and the consolidated territory plan would be the primary instrument for regulating the use of land and its development. A more flexible and responsive territory plan will ensure the government’s policies and its intended objectives remain relevant, consistent and effectively administered. Leasehold reforms have been designed to aim at developing a clearer, more streamlined process for granting leases and administering concessional leases. Finally, the electronic lodgment and approval of development applications will be facilitated, a procedure the authority has already put in place and will further expand in due course.
With the release of the exposure draft bill for public consultation last month, the planning system reform project has moved into the implementation phase. The consultation is focusing on stakeholder groups and negotiations with them on the detailed content, wording and operation of the legislation. Consultation of the new territory plan structure is directed towards a wider audience, as this is the first time the community will have been exposed to the proposed new territory plan structure. To facilitate consultation on the draft legislation, a quick guide to the bill was developed and made available to the public and stakeholder groups. The quick guide is an easy-to-read guide to the new legislation that explains in plain English how the legislation works, key changes and how those changes affect industry, business and the broader community.
I will now turn in some detail to specific areas of change. The new planning legislation provides for the executive to prepare a long-term planning strategy for the ACT. This planning strategy will aim to promote the orderly and sustainable development of the ACT and inform the strategic directions of the territory plan. The Minister for Planning will retain the ability to give the ACT Planning and Land Authority shorter term statements of planning intent that set out the main principles governing planning and land development in the territory. The new planning legislation, in combination with the consolidated territory plan, seeks to enhance the transparency and clarity of the urban land release process. Among the changes to the land release process, the territory plan will identify areas that may be subject to future urban development and include a structured plan for areas such as the Molonglo Valley.
The strategic environmental assessment process will assess the impacts of land-use change. The principles and policies and the new zoning structure for future urban areas will be implemented through a planned variation process that provides opportunities for agency and community consultation. Detailed planning for new suburbs will be through a concept planning process that will develop precinct codes for the purposes of development assessment. The development of precinct codes will involve both agency and community consultation, and, where the proposed precinct code provisions are consistent with principles and policies for the future development of an area, the code would be incorporated into the territory plan by a notifiable instrument. A notifiable
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