Page 95 - Week 01 - Tuesday, 12 February 2019
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proud of to be part of since the beginning, as deputy chair and then chair of the Belconnen Community Council, and now in this place.
Territory Plan variation 342 is the culmination of more than five years of work from government and, importantly, from community members and community organisations. Territory Plan variation 342 is the implementation of key recommendations from the Belconnen town centre master plan.
The Belconnen town centre master plan really began back in early 2014, when the Belconnen Community Council released a survey to assist it in gaining a deep understanding of community views on the future of the town centre as well as ensure that there was momentum for engagement and communications once the formal master plan process and consultation got underway. The survey received more than 200 responses. Many of the themes which emerged remained consistent throughout the formal master plan consultation phase, which began in late 2014.
The Belconnen Community Council contributed to ensuring that as many people as possible were not only aware of the consultation, but also participated in it. This included partnering with the Belconnen Community Service and Belconnen Arts Centre to host a consultation; hosting an informal consultation at Ginninderra Tavern; and creating an exhibition with the assistance and help of Westfield Belconnen. Many residents and organisations contributed to this consultation, and I believe that to this day it remains one of the most engaged with master plan processes.
Issues consistently seen before the master plan process began, and throughout it, included the community’s desire to have certainty regarding building heights, particularly after Wayfarer emerged as, back then, the tallest building in all of Canberra; better street-level amenity; and proposals to activate the promise and the potential of Emu Bank. Happily, the Belconnen town centre master plan addressed these desires.
A master plan, as we well know in this place, is guidance and a vision. To implement many of the recommendations in the master plan, to give effect to them, the Territory Plan needs to be amended. A draft variation of the Territory Plan to give effect to these changes was released in May 2018, and a number of organisations and individuals made representations. I am pleased to learn that these comments were taken seriously in finalising the variation. This variation has been through the planning and urban renewal committee which, it appears, has decided not to inquire into it, from the fact that its report has been tabled today. Today we saw that tabling, and much of the work in the master plan will now be realised.
The smoothness of this process is why, I suspect, there is little fanfare, but there is still much to celebrate and, indeed, many people to acknowledge. I want to put on the record today my thanks to ACT government planners, in particular Chris Gell, for their work and collaborative approach. This is necessarily an iterative process, but it is not an easy one, and the planners’ commitment throughout it has been commendable.
Thank you also to the many organisations and individuals throughout Belconnen who took the time and made the effort to make submissions, no matter at which stage.
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