Page 2052 - Week 07 - Thursday, 4 June 2015
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For the University of Canberra to continue its growth and remain competitive, the planning controls which govern the development of the campus need to be broadened. The university has an ambitious master plan which can be delivered through this bill and the proposed territory plan variation, which will include allowing residential and commercial development.
The bill proposes a number of primary amendments that will form the foundation of the new leasing model and have at its core the Land Titles Act 1925, the Planning and Development Act 2007 and the Unit Titles Act 2001. The bill allows for the realisation of the potential of the university’s crown lease and strengthens the existing provisions for subleasing of land. Effectively, this bill will allow both the ANU and the UC to sublease land currently under their in-perpetuity lease control. It is important to note that the conditions of the sublease will be in line with existing common law provisions and responsibilities as with any other unit title arrangement. This is essential to offer protections to any future residents and body corporate structures that may arise.
These reforms will allow the university to bring together professional partners and businesses, broadening the economic opportunities and boosting job growth. The university’s development will include a sports innovation cluster, which will be a leader in Australia in sports education and research; a health precinct, which will bring together research and training and healthcare facilities; an innovation precinct which will enable collaboration with national and international partners with a focus on commercialising research; and more residential accommodation.
While supporting the current vice-chancellor’s vision and commitment to the future of the university, the education sector’s role in the social and economic life of Canberra is too important to just set and forget. I believe the Assembly needs to maintain a close relationship with stakeholders and the community over the coming months and years.
Earlier this year the University of Canberra Amendment Bill 2015 was passed which foreshadowed this and other subsequent legislation. That bill specifically refers to a five-year review process, whereby the responsible minister will present a report to the Assembly on the outcomes of the review. In particular, the review will consider the economic and other benefits gained by UC and the community in the ACT region. It is important that this bill is included in the review.
We need to ensure the vision currently being outlined by the University of Canberra is actually realised. The Greens strongly believe elected representatives and responsible governments should maintain an oversight of that. The university’s land is still within the ACT borders and, therefore, should still be accountable to ACT laws. I would like to identify early on that this is an area that the ACT Greens will continue to monitor, as land is a precious commodity in our territory, and we must be strategic and community minded in its use.
We do not want to repeat the experience of the ANU, which in the 1990s sold off much of its housing for students and academics. This was done to try to solve short-
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