Page 71 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 10 February 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
introduced and the government tried to pass it without even talking to the community councils and other interested individuals. In fact, many stakeholders were shocked to find out what the government was planning and they spoke out against the bill.
Eventually the government was forced to refer the bill to the planning, environment and territory and municipal services committee for an inquiry. However, this was a sham inquiry. Despite this, many people still were able to desperately put together submissions in the very short amount of time which was allowed for the inquiry. The bill was rejected by everyone who was involved in the inquiry. Every single person who presented to that inquiry was critical of the bill which the government brought on.
The government was determined to give the minister the power to be the town planner, architect and developer for any site in Canberra. After extreme community pressure, the government was forced to withdraw the bill at the last minute. However, later today the government will be trying again to bring this bill into effect, albeit in a slightly different guise. What the government is planning to do is to give the government the power to be the town planner, architect and developer for anything within one kilometre of the proposed light rail line between Gungahlin and the city, the city and Russell or anywhere else that the government’s fanciful project could potentially be built.
Today we have another example of the government refusing to consult on the planning process. As I have already mentioned, the Planning and Development (Capital Metro) Legislation Amendment Bill is designed to exempt the government’s light rail project from proper scrutiny and consultation. The Canberra Liberals—the opposition—will be doing absolutely everything we can to try and prevent this bill from being passed by the Assembly. However, as with so many projects, so many bills and so many decisions in this place, the ball is in Mr Rattenbury’s court. Despite the fact that it seems every community council has a reservation about this bill, because it is about light rail, because it is about their golden project, principles and philosophy get brushed aside.
The government is becoming expert at ignoring public opinion and concerns. Major industry groups and community councils all raised significant concerns about the impact of DV306. It was a rare time when the MBA, HIA, Planning Institute, Institute of Architects, Property Council and others all came together to say that DV306 was bad for Canberra. However, the government stubbornly ignored the warnings from the community and proceeded with the variation.
As we all know, the community concerns were justified. As a result of the negative impact on the property sector, the government has been forced to roll back aspects of this variation. I envisage that even more roll-backs will be required, especially given the Mr Fluffy buyback and reconstruction projects which lie ahead of us. However, even though it was clear the variation was bad policy, the government still refuses to repeal it.
Madam Deputy Speaker, as you would be well aware, the debacle of the Hawker shops was yet another example of the government’s total disregard for public consultation. The proposal to relocate the supermarket and build on the car parks was widely criticised. The government thought it could secretly approve plans to totally
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video