Page 5745 - Week 14 - Tuesday, 6 December 2011
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This bill covers two key areas, both of which address key concerns I proposed amendments for in the last PABLAB round. The solutions are a little different from my initial proposal, but they essentially resolve the same issues—I hope. They are improving the pre-development application consultation process and erecting signs where work is being undertaken by a licensed builder in advance of the work being carried out to notify nearby residents of upcoming work as well as requiring that the signage be displayed while the work is undertaken.
In terms of the pre-DA consultation, I note that the ACT Government Architect, Alastair Swayne, said that the development process should be less adversarial and that if developers made more efforts to meet informally with various community stakeholders, planning outcomes would be greatly improved. I agree with this completely. The more the community are informed about a proposal in the early stages, the longer they have to formulate their responses and to get used to the concept of the proposal. Sometimes people just need some time to realise that their neighbourhood is changing and to get used to the idea of what it is about to become.
Sometimes residents have very valid concerns, but at the DA stage they simply do not have sufficient time to gather and formulate their thoughts, including doing relevant research so that their comments to the DA can be meaningful. It also is often far too late by the DA stage for a developer to take on any comments if they would require significant changes, unless they are absolutely forced to by not complying with relevant codes or legislation.
If, however, community comment was given to the developer early in the planning stages before the developer had invested too many resources in the details of the plans, they are far more likely to be able to integrate community comment. That is a way in which the Greens would hope to see pre-DA consultation as a plus for both developers and the community. It is a way of getting the development in a community as close as possible to what the community would like to see.
ACTPLA already has a pre-DA lodgement community consultation form. At present, the form must be compulsorily filled in for a residential building higher than three storeys and more than 50 units, buildings of more than 7,000 square metres and buildings or structures higher than 25 metres. There is no legislative requirement that binds any of the developers to undertake any of the actions listed on the forms. It is bizarre to enforce something by requiring people to fill in a form.
This bill will make the actions mandatory, as well as reducing the triggers requiring the community consultation down to residential buildings higher than three storeys or 15 or more dwellings, buildings greater than 5,000 square metres, and buildings or structures higher than 25 metres above ground level.
The legislation also creates an ability for ACTPLA to create guidelines about how a proponent should consult with the community. I understand ACTPLA will be consulting with various stakeholders over coming months to determine the appropriate level of community consultation for a range of particular instances and types of development.
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