Page 133 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 26 February 2014
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In relation to the ACT Planning and Land Authority’s performance, in the 2012-13 financial year ACTPLA performed better than the accountability indicator of 75 per cent of development applications determined within time. During the same period the median processing time for development applications was 30 working days. There are some councils in Sydney and Melbourne that take to five to seven times that period—so six to nine months—to deal with matters that ACTPLA deals with within 30 days. Further information on the development application is only requested where it is necessary to make a decision for the development application, and this should not be seen to be demanding. It is worth noting that in 2012-13 the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld ACTPLA’s original decision on 16 of the 17 matters that were reviewed.
In relation to the simplification of the territory plan, the review of the territory plan through such tools as variation 306 is an ongoing process. It aims to balance the requirements for an easy to use planning document that provides clear guidance on development within the territory whilst also being comprehensive enough to cover all possible development types and forms. The territory plan provides guidance on development across the city. These changes introduced through variation 306 mean it is better suited to responding to the needs of the community and industry today and, importantly, into the future. Variation 306 responded to submissions received by industry and by the community to ensure the final variation is legible and provides for the needs of the users of the document.
The government are committed to the strength and sustainability of the territory’s economy. We are also committed to the territory’s construction sector. Through the policies and programs I have outlined we will continue to support and work with the construction sector to contribute not only to the long-term success of the sector but of the ACT economy as a whole.
MR WALL (Brindabella) (10.24): It is ironic that the Treasurer stands here today and says the downturn in the construction industry is as a result of the federal government mugging the territory when largely the planning controls and the restrictions that are prohibiting and strangling the construction industry in this territory are run and administered by this government and many of which are creations of this government. Need I mention fees such as the commence and complete fees? In my electorate alone they are preventing the construction of a public swimming facility and a bulk-billing medical practice simply because these fees are out of tune with what the building and construction sector can afford at the moment.
The government claim the fees are to prevent land banking, yet at a time in the economy where commercial land values are going backwards and many purchases of commercial land in recent years now have negative equity in the property, developers who are unable to find tenants have been slugged with fines in excess of several hundreds of thousands of dollars simply because of the claim that they have been banking their land. It is unconscionable to expect a builder to take a hit on the value of the land, take another hit when government says, “You’ve taken too long to build,” but still build the facility if it is going to grow the economy, grow the community and
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