Page 4187 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 23 October 2019
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prepared to say that they would do this; they only said that they will consider it. I am sure that they will consider it and, in some time, there will be a bus to Whitlam. But my point is that there should be a bus for Whitlam as soon as there are people there to use a bus. We had that in the earlier parts of Molonglo and we should have it in the later parts of Molonglo, particularly given the isolation of the first inhabitants of Whitlam.
I urge all members of this Assembly to vote for my motion and I particularly urge my fellow Molonglo MLAs to do so, because I am confident that you have all heard some, or maybe even more, of the complaints that I have heard about the development in Molonglo. Clearly there are lots of good things in Molonglo—and I am not trying in this motion to put the development in the suburbs of Molonglo down at all. Having a reserve going right through the middle of the suburbs is a wonderful recreational and environmental asset. We just pray it will not also be a bushfire starter.
What I am looking for out of this motion is the government doing an independent review that will lead to addressing some of the current issues in Molonglo. Importantly for the rest of the ACT and Molonglo, it will mean there will be lessons learnt so that development in the future will be better than what we are doing now. That has to be the aim of our planning, to ensure that we learn from what we have done in the past so that it is better in the future. That is why I would like to see an independent review of what has happened in Molonglo. I commend my motion to the Assembly.
MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for the Environment and Heritage, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister assisting the Chief Minister on Advanced Technology and Space Industries) (10.37): I thank Ms Le Couteur for her ongoing interest in the sustainable development of Canberra and her reflection on many years of planning and development in the Molonglo Valley.
From the early planning through to the ongoing development of the Molonglo Valley, the government has demonstrated a strong commitment to environmentally responsible planning and design, together with its willingness to reflect on and make improvements to planning policy over time. The government’s approach to the development of the Molonglo Valley has always had a strong focus on ensuring consistency with commonwealth and ACT statutory environmental approvals.
I would like to take some time to discuss some technical matters about sustainability in the Molonglo Valley. This is quite a good example of how well-intentioned political interference in the independent planning process can lead to some unintended consequences. The planning provisions in the Molonglo Valley were a direct result of Ms Le Couteur’s activism and the seventh parliamentary agreement.
I would like to talk about the variation to the Territory Plan No 306, which commenced on 5 July 2013. This variation included a requirement that blocks in the new estates achieve good solar orientation and solar access to future dwellings—a considerable improvement on the then existing situation.
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