Page 354 - Week 02 - Tuesday, 14 February 2017
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Under the Utilities (Technical Regulation) Act the changes proposed are to the definition of “small or medium scale generation”, and allows for it to be changed in regulation. As a result of this amendment, generators up to 200 kilowatts will not be required to obtain an operating certificate. That is another good change that removes some red tape.
There is a technical amendment to the definition of “reserves” under the Nature Conservation Regulation 2015 as a result of Territory Plan variation 351—west Belconnen urban development—which commenced on 22 July 2016. The definition changes from “special purpose reserve” to “nature reserve” as the majority of the Woodstock and Woodstock West Special Purpose Reserve has become a nature reserve. Previously most was described as a special purpose reserve but now only a small strip of land will be retained as a special purpose reserve.
There is a technical amendment to the Planning and Development Act 2007 to make it clear that if an application to ACAT is withdrawn, dismissed or struck out the DA can proceed. Currently the Planning and Development Act 2007 is silent on this matter. This is another worthwhile amendment.
A technical amendment to the Utilities (Technical Regulation) Act 2014 allows regulated utilities to provide notification of reportable incidents. A dangerous incident, serious damage to a property or the environment, or the death of a person can now be notified by email or a smart form. Previously this was only by telephone within 24 hours after the regulated utility became aware of the incident.
In conclusion, the opposition is pleased to support this amendment bill which makes sensible changes to the planning, building and environment legislation, especially in dealing with increased community consultation. As elected members, we are all aware of the importance of that. This morning we heard, through a petition presented by my colleague Ms Le Couteur, about the concerns of the Curtin community with regard to planning changes there.
I thank the minister for bringing forward these worthwhile changes and I thank the minister’s office for their assistance with providing a briefing and information. We are pleased to support this change today.
MS ORR (Yerrabi) (11.30): I rise to speak in support of the Planning, Building and Environment Legislation Amendment Bill 2016 (No 2). I will leave it to Minister Gentleman to talk about the principal amendments in the bill, but I would like to take this opportunity to discuss some of the technical amendments made by this bill to the Nature Conservation Act 2014, the Planning and Development Act 2007 and the Planning and Development Regulation 2008. I will discuss a few of these amendments by way of example. The Assembly should note that the bill makes a number of other technical and editorial amendments that make good practical sense and improve the operation of the territory’s legislation.
The amendment in clause 7 of the bill is to section 100A of the Nature Conservation Act. Section 100A provides for the responsible minister to decide when an action plan
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