Page 654 - Week 02 - Thursday, 6 March 2008
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There is now an increased number of developments that do not need approval. For example, single residential dwellings in greenfield areas that meet the rules of the relevant codes, and minor structures, as defined in the regulation, are both exempt developments. Single residential dwellings in greenfield areas that comply with the relevant code now only require building approval. This has the potential to significantly reduce the number of development applications that go through ACTPLA’s statutory processes. This also has the potential to reduce the time taken for meeting the market demand for land for single dwellings and affordable housing. In addition, this will reduce the up-front expenditure that first home buyers face.
The development tables of the territory plan will indicate what matters are prohibited in a particular zone. ACTPLA cannot accept applications for prohibited developments and it will not be possible for the applicants to make appeals to the AAT. Developments that fall into the category of impact track will need to be accompanied by appropriate environmental assessments. The environmental impact assessment process is targeted at reducing environmental impacts caused by certain developments.
As in every jurisdiction, planning outcomes cannot be achieved by one government agency alone. It is necessary to obtain expert advice from relevant agencies prior to decision-making processes. The new planning legislation has integrated referral requirements for other government agencies. At the pre-application stage, the proponents can secure agency endorsement for their proposals prior to lodgement with ACTPLA. This in turn will reduce further the time taken for the approval process, and further referral to agencies will not be required where a recent statement of endorsement accompanies the development application.
Another key reform is the new statutory process for future urban areas, which requires estate development plans to be assessed against precinct codes—these are currently referred to as concept plans—and other relevant codes in the territory plan. The estate development plans, when approved, will have detailed plans and conditions, block boundaries and zones within the estate. In addition, these plans have the ability to include building envelope plans and infrastructure requirements that will assist in designing the estate. This is the same type of information currently provided through the lease and development conditions. The benefit of this new process is that concept plans, when first developed, go through a full variation process before inclusion in the territory plan as precinct codes. This gives industry and the community the opportunity to contribute to the planning policies for new urban areas.
The new territory plan has eliminated much of the duplication of documentation and cut down on the expenses and time delays for the developers and resources for the territory. If the estate development plans need to have specific controls that would differ from those in any code under the territory plan then a variation to the precinct code would need to occur prior to the estate development plan being approved. This can be achieved by a new process called technical amendments to the territory plan.
Under the current system, the concept plans are adopted into the register of planning guidelines and thus have no statutory effect. If any iteration is required during the estate development planning process, ACTPLA has the capacity to amend the concept
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