Page 5572 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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zone and where the boundary proposed to be changed is not aligned with the boundary of an existing leasehold is a technical amendment under sections 87(d) and 96A of the act.
A variation required to bring the territory plan into line with the national capital plan is a technical amendment under 87(e) of the act. A variation to omit something that is obsolete or redundant in the territory plan is a technical amendment under section 87(f) of the act. And, finally, a variation to clarify the language in the territory plan, if it does not change the substance of the plan, is a technical amendment under section 87(g) of the act.
Technical amendment 2010-31 is being processed mainly as a code variation under section 87(b) and also has elements that are language clarifications under section 87(g).
It is important to note that the ACT Planning and Land Authority, in its capacity as a statutory authority, initiates and develops a technical amendment. The government has no direct role in this. Therefore, the opening paragraph of this motion that the government released a proposed technical amendment is not strictly correct. It is ACTPLA that released the technical amendment and ACTPLA that decides whether or not it proceeds.
It is useful to run through the basis for having the technical amendment mechanism that was introduced in the Planning and Development Act and passed by this Assembly. As I have noted, one type of technical amendment is a code amendment. A code amendment enables planning codes to be updated when things change or further information becomes available. This may include changes to concept plans for new suburbs when further planning work has been done and impacts are better understood. This may, in some circumstances, mean that dwelling numbers could be refined.
However, any change to the code must be consistent with the policy purpose and policy framework of the code. The concept of technical amendments was brought in by this Assembly because such amendments allow minor changes, updates and clarifications to the territory plan to be made through a quick process rather than a full variation to the territory plan variation process which, as we know, can take 12Â months or even longer.
Prior to the concept of technical amendments, the types of changes being considered for Crace and Casey would have been the subject of non-statutory guidelines that could be changed without recourse through an Assembly process. Let me reiterate that. Before the government reformed the planning system there was no notification of such changes.
Public consultation is required for three types of technical amendments—those that involve changes to planning codes, those that involve rezoning of future urban areas and those that involve language clarification. The minimum period required for public consultation is three weeks and the National Capital Authority must also be consulted. Other ACT government agencies are also often contacted if the changes are likely to be of interest or have implications for the agency.
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