Page 4146 - Week 13 - Thursday, 14 December 2006
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Services and Minister for Planning) (11.20): Mr Speaker, for the information of members, I present the following paper:
Planning and Environment—Standing Committee—report 22—Exposure draft planning and development bill—government response.
I move:
That the Assembly takes note of the paper.
In association with my presentation of the Planning and Development Bill I am also tabling the government’s response to the planning and environment committee report 22 of 2006, Exposure draft planning and development bill. In its report released in October the committee made 48 recommendations in relation to the exposure draft of the bill. Those recommendations largely focus on the refinement and clarification of particular provisions and respond to key matters raised by stakeholders during the inquiry.
In addition the committee suggested minor or technical amendments to the bill, as detailed in table 1 of its report. The government in its response has agreed, agreed in part or agreed in principle to 22 of the committee’s recommendations. This has resulted in significant refinement of the bill. A further 14 of the committee’s recommendations have been noted and addressed accordingly in the response, with 12 of its recommendations not being agreed.
Mr Seselja, as a member of the committee, provided additional and dissenting comments in relation to the provisions of third party appeals. He recommended that clauses in the bill which grant standing for third party appeals should be amended to ensure that organisations cannot be established specifically to gain standing. The government does not agree with Mr Seselja’s recommendation, as this would appear to be an unreasonable restriction on the ability of people to form associations for a variety of purposes. This provision in the bill and related ones will be monitored following its implementation.
The committee has commended many of the aspects of the draft legislation, including the substantial simplification of existing legislative provisions, introduction of the track-based assessment system and a much improved impact assessment process. The committee has also commended the ACT Planning and Land Authority’s commitment to engaging with the community during consultation on the bill.
In relation to the committee’s comments on the territory plan and reflected in the government’s response, the consultative process on the replacement of the territory plan has commenced. This will culminate in the release of a completely restructured territory plan for public comment in the first part of 2007.
I would like to thank the committee for its timely and effective examination of the key issues in this legislation and for its report. I am pleased to table the government’s response.
Debate (on motion by Dr Foskey) adjourned to the next sitting.
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