Page 3936 - Week 11 - Tuesday, 15 Sept 2009
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rates being pursued by ACTPLA. This system, which again leads the nation, also permits registered applicants to track the progress of their development application online 24/7 from their office or home. The new system also incorporates a workflow module which enables the processing of applications to be closely monitored by managers and team leaders and workloads adjusted as needs be.
The second phase of system development currently underway will see the electronic lodgement and processing of building applications online in the first half of 2010. All this means convenience for customers and very significant time and cost savings. This will be achieved because applicants will not have to visit ACTPLA to lodge applications and subsequently phone development officers to check the progress of their reports or applications.
The recent reforms I have touched on today build on the foundations of a very responsive new planning system set in place in March 2008. The underlying health of the development assessment system is illustrated, for example, by a recent comparison with other jurisdictions. This comparison, made in connection with the ACTPLAn initiative, found that the time taken for the assessment of development applications in the ACT is by far the shortest when compared with other planning agencies such as those in Queensland, Victoria, New South Wales and South Australia.
This bill contains a number of technical but important changes, including clarifications and corrections. The bill also includes a number of more significant changes related to confirming the reforms that I have outlined. In either case this bill, together with the recent and ongoing reforms, indicates that the government is not resting on its laurels after the initial reform effort. The reforms demonstrate that this government has been, and continues to be, willing to consider and make necessary changes to meet changing community needs. This is appropriate in the current difficult and uncertain economic climate. It is also appropriate given the importance of planning policy to the community.
Planning policy has the potential to significantly affect people’s living, working and recreational environments. As such, it will always be a highly scrutinised area of public policy, as it should be. It is a truism worth repeating that, while planning systems can be improved, there will never be one associated with policy settings that meet everyone’s needs and expectations. To contend that this is possible or even desirable is to misunderstand the nature of planning systems. This government will continue to listen and will always be ready to make the changes where they give rise to good outcomes for the sustainable future of our most wonderful city of Canberra. I commend the Planning and Development Amendment Bill to the Assembly.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (11.35): Thank you, Madam Assistant Speaker. I apologise: I was out of the chamber at the Battle of Britain commemorative ceremony, and Mr Smyth has put the basic position of the Liberal Party on this bill. We do believe that the tidying up of various regulatory measures is important, and for that reason we have no issue with supporting the bill.
I want to touch briefly on the issue of use development, which is particularly highlighted in this bill. Whilst this is a clean-up and we do not have a problem with the particular provisions of the bill, we did have, and continue to have, a problem with
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