Page 328 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 14 February 2017
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The Clerk having announced that the terms of the petitions would be recorded in Hansard and referred to the appropriate ministers for response pursuant to standing order 100, the petitions were received.
Pursuant to standing order 99A, the petitions, each having more than 500 signatories, were referred to the Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Renewal and the Standing Committee on Environment and Transport and City Services respectively.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (10.02), by leave: I am very pleased that today this petition from the people of Curtin has been lodged in the Assembly. This is a petition from nearly 2,000 people. Nearly a third of the adult residents of Curtin signed this petition, which shows how important this issue is to the community. It is really important that we make sure that our planning system is responsive to the views of the community, particularly in this instance when, in Curtin, a draft master plan was prepared in 2015. It has not been progressed since then, but it would appear to me and to the people who signed that petition that the proposed DA is not consistent with that draft master plan.
I think that is one of the things fuelling the discontent, and possibly anger, of the people of Curtin. They were consulted about what was going to happen to their shopping centre. They made their views clear, and they thought that the government was on side, basically. They now find that a DA has been lodged that would appear to be clearly non-compliant with the master plan. There are many words that could be used to describe that—rude, annoying, discourteous; harder ones than have been used.
As well as not being consistent with the draft master plan, in my admittedly not technical opinion, it is not consistent with the Territory Plan. It will also be a very appalling development insofar as it is six storeys whereas currently there is a one-storey development, so it will block out the sun in the afternoon in Curtin Square, which is why people really do not like it. It would appear possibly that the DA has been lodged now to circumvent the master planning process. Hopefully, that is not the case, but that is the impression given to the people of Curtin. The other thing that has happened is that the proponent has threatened to close the shops if the DA is not approved, which would seem to be blackmail at the least, and that is really not the way to run a planning system.
The Greens and the people who put forward this petition are not against some redevelopment in Curtin. In fact, the master plan has two storeys going up to four storeys on that site. I think the people of Curtin all recognise that some change will happen, but this is not the appropriate change.
I am disappointed that it had to happen, but given that it had to happen, I am very pleased to be here today supporting a petition by 2,000 members of our community saying, “We want better planning in Canberra, in particular in Curtin. Follow the draft master plan.”
MRS KIKKERT (Ginninderra) (10.05), by leave: I have presented a petition signed by 1,329 Canberra residents calling on the ACT government to install traffic control
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