Page 1815 - Week 06 - Thursday, 9 May 2013
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It is with pleasure that I present the Planning and Development (Territory Plan Variations) Amendment Bill 2013. This bill amends the Planning and Development Act 2007 and its focus is the territory plan variation process under that act. It will make processes for updating and maintaining the territory plan more efficient.
The aim of the bill is to provide greater certainty and confidence for the community and developers and to better support the efficiency and effectiveness of the overall development assessment and territory plan variation processes, particularly in relation to future urban areas and estate development plans. It does this by clarifying and providing more effective and efficient processes associated with technical variations of the territory plan. These improved processes will enhance the government’s ability to respond quickly to address environmental issues and allow for more timely delivery of land to the Canberra market.
The planning controls for each zone in the territory plan are detailed in the relevant development tables and codes of the plan. The territory plan sets the strategic direction for planning and development in the ACT. The statutory requirements for the plan are set out in the Planning and Development Act 2007, primarily in chapter 5.
The object of the territory plan is to ensure, in a manner not inconsistent with the national capital plan, the planning and development of the ACT to provide the people of the territory with an attractive, safe and efficient environment in which to live, work and have their recreation.
The territory plan can be varied, subject to it being consistent with the national capital plan. Variations are usually necessary to update the policies to manage change brought about through economic, social, environmental, built environment and other factors. Variations can be of two types—ordinary and technical, and the process for each is different under the Planning and Development Act.
This bill is concerned with the technical amendments process. A technical amendment to the territory plan is made under part 5.4 of the Planning and Development Act. A technical amendment can be in a number of forms, including, for instance, a variation which corrects a formal error in the plan, a code variation that only changes a code and is consistent with the policy purpose and policy framework of the code, and a change to a boundary of a zone.
I would now like to talk about the territory plan variation processes specifically for future urban areas and estate development plans. Part 5.5 of chapter 5 of the act deals with matters associated with future urban areas and related consequences of the approval of an estate development plan, otherwise known as an EDP.
“Future urban area” is defined in the act as meaning an area identified in the plan for future urban development. The Planning and Land Authority may vary the plan as a technical amendment to rezone land in a future urban area and to identify the zones that will apply to land consistent with an approved estate development plan. This second type of technical variation of the territory plan has the effect that the land ceases to be in a future urban area. The rezoning cannot be inconsistent with the structure plan for the area.
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