Page 3514 - Week 11 - Thursday, 19 September 2013
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strong community support for them. My own directorate is responsible for leading work on a range of innovative and integrated urban policies that will ensure our city is sustainable, liveable and viable well into the future. It starts with the higher level of strategic planning frameworks. We have set a strong framework for reform to deliver on key social issues like improving housing affordability, managing population growth and improving people’s transport choices, focusing on residential intensification, amenity and mobility and by making the switch to a sustainable future in our energy supply, in water and transport management activities and in the government’s own operations.
In 2012 this Labor government renewed its long-term vision and outcomes for the city through the ACT planning strategy. That policy sets out the strategic direction for how our city will grow sustainably in the short, medium and longer terms. But that planning strategy also does some very important things in addition. It reinforces the spatial structure of our city by focusing on town, group and local centres and the Griffin legacy work. The strategy outlines where future growth and urban intensification will occur and how it will be managed. Through the planning strategy and its sister policy, transport for Canberra, we have also prioritised investment in social and public transport infrastructure and in better urban design and amenity.
The planning strategy also works together with the government’s sustainability strategy—action plan 2, weathering the change—to set a course for sustainable urban growth and development by achieving our greenhouse gas reduction targets and working towards the goal of carbon neutrality.
Let me talk about some of the very important targets for sustainable transport first of all. We want to increase active and public transport use to 30 per cent by 2026. We want to extend the network of paths, cycleways and other infrastructure to encourage active transport and make good connections to activity centres and bus stops. We want to manage parking demand through a strategic parking, pricing and management regime, a parking offset fund and the release of regular parking plans for the city and our town centres. All this planning is already leading to the delivery and implementation of important projects that will provide strong social, economic and sustainability outcomes.
The government’s commitment, for example, through delivering the capital metro project is a clear sign of our focus on this delivery. Mr Smyth asks, “Where is the vision for the city centre? Where is the vision for managing growth?” That transport project and other projects like the city plan are central to that. We know that we want to see more people living in the city centre. We know that there is great potential to leverage more activity in the city centre if we give people good public transport choices. We know that it is going to be increasingly difficult to sustain the vibrant city centre without good, indeed excellent, public transport connections.
Capital metro is one way that that can be achieved. The 12½ kilometres of light rail linking the city to Gungahlin down one of the city’s busiest corridors is a key part of our planning agenda. We have committed to planning for its future expansion as well beyond the city centre through the development of a light rail master plan which is currently underway. This project will be a transformative project for our city and its future.
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