Page 1583 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 31 March 2009
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Finally, let me turn to the territory plan itself and the processes that underpin it. The size and complexity of the territory plan and related instruments have been slashed. Eighty-seven different concept plans, master plans, neighbourhood plans and registered and unregistered guidelines were collapsed into a three-volume territory plan. The territory plan codes provide a vehicle for government agencies to document their development standards in the territory plan. In turn, this will reduce the need for agency referral, and over time the DA processes will become a one-stop shop. This creates a new opportunity for reform of whole-of-government processes—an element I will return to shortly.
The new planning system has also created a technical amendment process. This enables ACTPLA to quickly rectify or refine the territory plan with minor or technical changes which do not change the policy intent—simpler, faster and more effective; practical and innovative reform.
I am pleased that the act was passed by this Assembly unanimously. And I welcome the Leader of the Opposition’s recent restatement of his support for the government’s legislative reforms. Continuing cross-party support for these reforms is important. We hope it will be maintained into the future. That is the best way to keep politics out of planning.
The new system is flexible and adaptable. The system has several new features which allow the government to quickly respond to changing circumstances or changing needs of the community or industry. This has been shown repeatedly over the last 12 months. Regulations exempting small-scale development from the need for a development application have been implemented in consultation with industry. These include extended exemptions and redefined rules for eligible types of development, along with more flexible rules for applying exemption criteria and DA conditions. There have been recent improvements to the land release and estate development plan processes. These improvements mean a simpler public notification process and a reduction in the number of applications that need to go to referral agencies.
Two recent major events provide good examples of this enhanced flexibility at work. These new features will allow the government the flexibility to respond to events without needing lengthy processes, and it does this while preserving the policy content and integrity of the system.
In December last year, in response to the looming financial crisis and industry concerns, the government announced ACTPLAn. This is an action plan supported by a new industry consultation group to ensure that ACTPLA and the building industry work more closely together to support thousands of building jobs in the ACT.
ACTPLAn further improved the planning system by cutting red tape and helping to deal with backlogs of development applications in the system. This allowed around 30 per cent of single dwelling DAs to be assessed more quickly without sacrificing planning standards. ACTPLAn also broadened DA exemptions through regulation, allowing more flexible assessment and approval of run-of-the mill applications, such as those for roof colours and the installation of flagpoles. The new act allowed this rapid response to an emerging challenge.
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