Page 4327 - Week 13 - Thursday, 4 December 2014
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An analysis undertaken by the Environment and Planning Directorate revealed the following: 91,895 blocks in the ACT are located in the RZ1 suburban zone and 15,103 blocks in the ACT are located in the RZ2 suburban core zone. Of the asbestos-affected blocks, 863 blocks are in the RZ1 zone and 149 are in the RZ2 zone. In other words, the blocks affected by loose-fill asbestos represent 0.94 per cent of all the RZ1 blocks in the ACT and 0.99 per cent of all RZ2 blocks.
Of the 863 asbestos-affected blocks in the RZ1 zone, 567 blocks, or 65.7 per cent, have a block area greater than 800 square metres, and 771 blocks, or 89.3 per cent, have a block area greater than 700 square metres. So, as you can see, the proposed changes to the planning provisions for affected blocks will apply to less than one per cent of blocks in the suburban parts of Canberra.
Noting this important fact, I would now like to explain the rationale for the proposed changes. The RZ1 suburban zone restricts most multi-unit development, permitting low impact, dual occupancy housing only on blocks of 800 square metres or greater. However, it currently prohibits the dual occupancy from being unit titled. This means that the two dwellings are not able to be sold separately, making it difficult to obtain financing for the project as the value of development is limited.
The RZ1 suburban zone already allows a dual occupancy to be approved and built on a standard residential block. Amending the provisions to allow a dual occupancy on a block of 700 square metres or more would increase the development potential of over three-quarters of the affected blocks. Enabling the dual occupancy to be unit titled assists in increasing the value of these blocks.
I mentioned before that there would be safeguards in place to help control the redevelopment process and I would now like to elaborate on these. Reducing the minimum block size to 700 square metres or greater and allowing unit titling are the only RZ2 provisions that will be applied to the RZ1 affected blocks. Therefore, other provisions that apply to RZ2 blocks to increase the dwelling density further, such as increased plot ratio provisions and the like, will not apply to the RZ1 affected blocks. This means that the sliding scale of plot ratio that current applies to RZ1 will continue to apply, as well as the maximum number of dwellings permissible on the affected block to remain at two.
A new and important safeguard that could be considered is a requirement for unit titling of dual occupancy in RZ1 to be designed by a registered architect. While this may add some cost to the project, it would ensure a qualified design professional works through the range of urban design issues that need to be taken into account. For example, the relationship of dual occupancy development with its neighbours, streetscape character and quality of the design and the dual occupancy itself will be comprehensively considered.
The proposed provision would be applied through changes to the residential development codes and not by rezoning the affected blocks. Rezoning the blocks would lead to a scattering of RZ2 zoned blocks within the RZ1, which would create an inconsistency between the objectives of the zones. It also would mean that, if any additional sites were identified, further territory plan rezoning would be required.
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