Page 1205 - Week 04 - Thursday, 21 March 2013
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(2) agrees to continue Schedule 1, Part 1.3, Division 1.3.6A, s1.99C of the Planning and Development Regulation so that it does not expire on 31 March 2013; and
(3) agrees that this resolution is to take effect on the day it is passed.
Put simply, this proposed motion is for the indefinite continuation of a provision of the Planning and Development Regulation that exempts certain developments on existing school and childcare centre sites from the requirement for development approval. In my comments on this motion, I will summarise the relevant exemptions and refer to some of the history behind them and their recent review by the Planning and Land Authority. In support of the motion, I will refer to the limited nature of the exemption itself and the outcomes of the review.
There are a number of development activities that are exempt from the requirement to apply for and obtain development approval under the Planning and Development Act, typically referred to as DA exemptions. These developments still require building approval from a certifier and must comply with all other relevant territory legislation regarding land use, such as heritage and tree protection requirements.
I need to be precise about the relevant provision and proposed motion. The proposed motion is for the continuation of section 1.99C of division 1.3.6A of part 1.3 of schedule 1 of the Planning and Development Regulation 2008. Section 1.99C applies to buildings in schools and childcare centres. The ability to continue this section by this motion comes from section 1.99C(3) of schedule 1 of the regulation. This section states that this exemption provision expires on 31 March 2013 unless continued by resolution of the Assembly.
Section 1.99C is located in division 1.3.6A of schedule 1 of the Planning and Development Regulation and contains all of the school-specific DA exemptions. I will refer to this division on school DA exemptions simply as “the division”. The DA exemptions in this division have been in place since March 2009.
It is important to emphasise that the exemptions in the division do not allow for the construction of an entirely new school or childcare centre without development approval. The construction of an entirely new school will be subject to the full development assessment process. The exemptions in the division allow for additional development to occur on school and childcare centre sites that are already in operation. These schools and childcare centres would have already been through the full development assessment process when they were initially established.
The division as it stands applies only to already established school and childcare centres. Specifically, the DA exemptions apply only to schools in existence on the date when the school DA exemptions came into effect, that is 24 March 2009. The recent review of the division by the Planning and Land Authority recommended that if the exemptions in the division are retained, they should apply to schools and childcare centres that came into existence after 24 March 2009.
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