Page 1784 - Week 06 - Thursday, 14 May 2015
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
The proposed bill will help the UC to prepare for a more competitive and less certain future by providing a mechanism to fully utilise its existing campus land to provide an increased range of high grade facilities for its students, academics and workforce. This development activity will, in turn, generate greater economic activity in the building and construction industries and create more jobs for people in the Canberra region. The bill also recognises that a strong and vibrant university will require less support from the ACT government, freeing up funds for use in other areas of our community.
Whilst I am here to present a bill to the Assembly today, for the information of the Assembly I will outline the details of draft territory plan variation DV347, which I mentioned earlier. DV347 will be released for public comment on the time to talk website from this Saturday, 16 May. I believe the variation and the bill together will provide the means for the university to realise the potential of its main asset, its land. The draft territory plan variation proposes to retain the existing zoning of “community facility zone”, broaden the territory plan to permit a number of uses associated with the operation of a contemporary university, provide greater certainty in relation to building heights, incorporate additional design provisions and general requirements, limit the scale of non-student residential development to 3,300 dwellings, limit the gross floor area of an on-site shop to 200 square metres and supermarkets to 1,000 square metres, and allow for an increase in the scale of non-university-related commercial office development spaces on the campus.
An office development in the community facility zone currently must be used for a not-for-profit organisation and is limited to 400 square metres. The draft variation removes the not-for-profit restriction and amends the limit on office and public agency and business agency to 2,000 square metres per unit. A criterion in the draft variation also allows an office to be larger than 2,000 square metres where it can be demonstrated that the development is not of a scale that will compete unduly with the Belconnen town centre. The draft variation will also allow for a more qualitative approach to assessing multi-unit housing. The proposal aligns with the government’s commitment to the master plan process, including the Belconnen town centre master plan.
The Planning and Development (University of Canberra and Other Leases) Legislation Amendment Bill will deliver two key things: a means, through development opportunity, for the university to fully realise the potential of its crown lease and a strengthening of existing provisions for the subleasing of land.
An important aspect of this bill is that the quantum of the land held by the university is not diminished, and the university in the ACT will retain the land. The university can sublease the land to any number of sublessees specifying the use allowed on the land and can renew a sublease, with a further premium paid for the new sublease. Whilst the current act already provides for the subleasing of land, this bill will strengthen subleasing provisions and stimulate investment by financial institutions.
Further, because the new provisions make it mandatory to register the sublease of the land, both the terms and record of title will be transparent and publicly available.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video