Page 721 - Week 02 - Thursday, 25 February 2010
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One of the issues that I am disappointed was not mentioned in this statement is child-friendly planning. It was part of the Greens agreement with the Labor Party and I understand it is something that the government are working on through DHCS. They are working on this in their children and young people plan. I thought I only had a little bit of time but it seems that I have an unlimited amount of time to speak. I will just very briefly—
Mr Hargreaves: So far you’ve got the record.
MS LE COUTEUR: I am sure that is not true, Mr Hargreaves. I believe Bernard Collaery has the record. I heard he managed to speak all day at one stage. I am not up for that. But what I am up for talking about is what is probably the closest the Greens have to a statement of planning intent. If I had realised this was coming up, maybe I would have managed to produce one. As members will be aware, last week the Greens launched the statement entitled “Excellence in sustainable design in the Molonglo Valley development”. In it, we go through 11 points. We go through energy, transport, sustainable road and path networks, pedestrian-friendly design, child-friendly design, water, open spaces and nature reserves, protection of river corridor and the riparian zone, community gardens and suburban level composting, public housing and universal design. We also end up with some examples of sustainable design where other jurisdictions are doing things better than the ACT.
I will not go through this fully because it is probably a bit too long. I would just like to make a few comments based on some of the public discussion of this, specifically in terms of seven-star housing. Seven-star housing is something which we think would be a very good idea for the ACT. We have read quite a number of reports, particularly from RMIT, where it has been demonstrated that after a very small number of years the minimal extra costs of building seven-star will be well and truly repaid and it is cheaper to live in seven-star housing rather than less energy efficient housing. The costs of seven-star housing are not a lot more.
I sincerely hope the development authorities will do the right thing—and I am encouraged, based on Mr Barr’s statement, that they will—and they will orientate the blocks correctly. Every new block should have a useable northern face. Given that, and given good insulation, it is really just a matter of the builders using good design, rather than a lot of additional money, to create seven-star houses. I have seen examples where it is cheaper to create a seven-star than a less energy efficient house. Seven-star housing is something which costs very little in the beginning and has big positive benefits in the future. It means that people will be more comfortable in their houses and will spend less money on heating and cooling.
Another area that has been talked about quite a deal is the Greens’ aspirations for Molonglo. We hope that Molonglo will be an area where the transport system is good enough so that most households find they need a maximum of one car. I hope some will find they do not need any cars. Most of them will be able to live their lives quite comfortably and easily with one car. This is because there will be good public transport, good walking provision and good cycling provision. These are things which make a city more liveable. They help the inhabitants of the city to be healthier by
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