Page 3708 - Week 10 - Thursday, 14 September 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Urban Renewal) (10.31): I move:
That this bill be agreed to in principle.
I am pleased to present the Nature Conservation (Minor Public Works) Amendment Bill 2017 to the Assembly. This bill amends the Nature Conservation Act 2014, the Planning and Development Act 2007 and the Planning and Development Regulation 2008. The purpose of the bill is to streamline the development assessment process for minor public works undertaken by the territory in the ACT’s reserves. The bill is a red-tape reduction measure that removes regulatory barriers for efficient work practices. While administrative benefits will be gained from the new process, the bill ensures that important environmental safeguards are maintained and significant environmental impacts are prevented.
The key element of this bill is the introduction of the power for the Conservator of Flora and Fauna to approve a code of practice for undertaking minor public works in reserves. Where minor public works in reserves comply with the code of practice, they will be removed from the impact track development assessment process and will be exempt from requiring development approval under the Planning and Development Act. The introduction of the code of practice and the incorporation of it into the Planning and Development Act processes will reduce the administration costs in undertaking these works while maintaining appropriate environmental oversight.
It is important to note that this bill is a change to processes rather than a change to assessing environmental impacts. Rather than having the conservator assessing every minor works proposal on a case-by-case basis, the code will allow the conservator to pre-determine certain standards, practices and conditions that can be met to ensure that works will not have significant environmental impact and therefore do not require development approval.
I would first like to give some background to the current practices and legislative requirements that have given rise to the amendments proposed in the bill. I will then go into some detail on the key elements of the bill that give effect to the new, streamlined process for undertaking works in reserves.
The parks and conservation service is the land custodian of wilderness areas, national parks and nature reserves in the ACT. This role includes maintaining the infrastructure and facilities required in these areas, such as access roads, car parks and fire trails. The parks and conservation service also undertakes minor installation works such as park furniture, fencing and signage.
Currently, to comply with the development assessment process in the Planning and Development Act, the parks and conservation service must submit a development application to the planning and land authority whenever it wants to do minor works in reserves. These works nominally fall into the impact assessment track and require an environmental impact statement or an environmental significance opinion, known as
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video