Page 4000 - Week 10 - Thursday, 20 September 2018
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Mr Steel: The answer to the member’s question is as follows:
(1) The current status of the removal of Monash Drive is that an impact assessment was completed in 2012 that concluded the road reserve did not provide a significant benefit to the community as a road, however the corridor could be utilised for other less intensive and disruptive uses such as an Active travel corridor and to support servicing the utilities such as the high voltage electricity easement and assets that run within or directly adjacent to the reserve.
(2) (a) The removal of Monash Drive from the National Capital Plan (NCP) was first proposed by the ACT Government in 2009. It was initially proposed by the ACT Government and the NCA agreed to propose a draft amendment to the NCP. (b) The proposed draft amendment was not progressed at the time as the investigation (impact assessment) suggested alternative future uses could utilise the corridor and would be beneficial to the community.
(3) (a) Negotiations between the ACT Government and the NCA commenced initially in 2009, and were progressed further in 2013 following investigations into the potential impacts and benefits of the proposed removal. (b) The negotiations concluded when it was determined during the investigations that the removal of the reservation would prevent future alternative and compatible uses such as active travel as well as servicing the existing utilities located within the reserve. (c) The agreement with the NCA at the time concluded that retaining the road reservation would allow other potential complimentary uses such as utility services or active travel infrastructure to be provided in the future.
(4) At the time of the initial discussions, all relevant materials including the draft Impact Assessment Report were provided to the NCA for their consideration. (a) In 2012 the NCA informed the territory that to progress the amendment to the NCP to remove the road reservation would require an Impacts Assessment Study that considered the environmental impacts and benefits of the proposed removal, and a letter from the territory seeking the removal of the road reservation. (b) The draft Impacts Assessment report was provided to the NCA for review in early 2013. Following the review, and further discussions about the potential alternative uses for the corridor, the ACT Government did not to send the letter formally seeking the amendment to the NCP.
For the matter to be progressed, a letter seeking the removal of the road reservation, and a finalised Impacts Assessment Report will need to be sent to the NCA requesting the formal process to proceed. The proposed amendment to the NCP would then be put on public exhibition for consideration by the community, before the NCA would make a determination whether to remove the road reservation corridor.
The ACT Government is currently seeking advice as to whether the instrument within the NCP could restrict the ‘construction of a road’ from the allowable developments within the corridor. This would allow the retention of the reservation for future compatible uses such as active travel and utilities servicing whilst preventing the construction of a road. If this is possible, an updated Impact Assessment report and letter seeking this action will be progressed in August 2018.
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