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Canberra Today 13°/17° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Carter: Planning report’s in, but still needs work

THE ACT’s planning system has improved in efficiency over the past two years according to the latest research from the Residential Development Council and the Property Council of Australia.

However Property Council ACT executive director Catherine Carter says there’s still future potential for the ACT and opportunities for further reform.

The report card on Development Assessment 2012 identifies progress on development assessment reform across States and Territories, and provides snapshots of each planning system and action plans for delivering further reform in a score out of 10. ACT’s report card has  improved with a score of 6.5 in comparison to 6.2 in  2010.

“The ACT has one of the better development assessment systems – a single planning authority and a structure that most represents the DAF model,” Ms Carter said.

“In recent years the ACT has benefited substantially from structural change that had only just been implemented at the time of the last review. The ACT still lags however in the delivery of detail necessary to achieve further improvement.”

Ms Carter said one of the positive attributes of the ACT system includes “track-based” assessment structure and a strong take-up of e-DA lodgement which stands at around 70 per cent.

However, she says the negative attributes includes a lack of “detail and substance, with many assessment codes still to be developed”.

“As well, many of the bigger development issues for the ACT remain unresolved, including unlocking commercial centre opportunities, achieving infill housing and providing certainty of process,” she said.

“There is however much future potential for the ACT and opportunities for further reform. Amongst these are the finalisation of the ACT Planning Strategy, although this will require considerable effort on behalf of government in communicating its long term objectives, especially for infill development.

“The ACT Government also needs to act to finalise a number of system components. The Government should develop a priority listing of Precinct Codes, Development Codes and General Codes as a matter of urgent priority. Extension of code assessment procedures to beyond residential categories is also imperative.

“Industry is also looking to government to rationalise the development referral system. The articulation of policy is required to circumvent the need for referral on routine matters. This will be of benefit to both industry and to those government agencies who deal with planning matters, speeding up the process and providing greater certainty.”

More information at www.propertyoz.com.au

[box] Report card on Development Assessment 2012 results, score out of 10 for all States and Territories: 

NT 2010 7.3  2012 7.5

WA 2010 5.3 2012 7.1

SA 2010 6.8 2012 6.5

ACT 2010 6.2 2012 6.5

VIC 2010 6.2 2012 6.2

NSW 2010 5.2 2012 5.9

QLD 2010 5.8 2012 5.8

TAS 2010 5.2 2012 5.4 [/box]

 

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