Page 2938 - Week 08 - Thursday, 25 June 2009
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MR SESELJA: I will give you the 19th. Mr Barr put out his policy which was almost a direct lift of parts of our planning policy, to ensure that ACTPLA is able to be more responsive to industry to get things done.
As I was touching on earlier, we long called for changes to that policy. One size fits all was the real problem with it. We said, “Having some of these unit developments in culs-de-sac in the suburbs just does not work. Focus it on town centres, focus it on transport corridors.” Lo and behold, I believe it was this minister—I do not think that backflip happened under Mr Corbell—who actually made some changes that did impose some restrictions.
It has been this tinkering around the edges and this focus on this flawed core area policy which has led to simply tinkering. If you are talking about actual density, if you are talking about actually getting a sustainable city and a city that is able to grow sustainably, then of course it has to come along the transport corridors and at the major centres. There has not been that desire to do it.
This major policy reversal from the planning minister is certainly welcome. I will say it again: I want Canberra to grow. I am pro growth of this city. I do not want to see our population stagnating. I do not want to see our population going backwards. I want to see it grow sustainably and the way to do that, as Mr Barr has pointed out in his speech, is not for all of the growth to be happening in the outer suburbs.
Greenfields development is important. It will continue to be important. Not everyone is going to want an apartment. Not everyone is going to want a duplex in the inner north or the inner south or, indeed, be able to afford some of those. Many young families are still going to want, if not a quarter acre block, then a 600 metre block or a 700 metre block with a patch of lawn where they can raise their family. That is still something that is very important.
But for many Canberrans, and particularly as our population ages, they want apartments, they want townhouses, they want duplexes and we have not provided enough of them.
Mr Barr: So why did Vicki run the campaign against north Watson?
MR SESELJA: What a load of rubbish.
Mr Barr: I have got the emails and when I showed them to Bob Wynell he was outraged.
MR SESELJA: This is the rubbish we hear—she was running a campaign. Mrs Dunne can respond to that. The minister, once again, has backflipped on this issue. Northbourne Avenue is one of the key areas where we do need to see density and we have not seen it. One of the things I announced was in relation to actually consulting with the community, not just about this particular area which Mr Barr is talking about but having a far broader conversation about town centres, major centres and about transport corridors and how we can better utilise that space. It is critically
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