Progress on the Territory’s planning reforms has been unveiled in an update project paper from the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate.
Announcing the release, Minister for Planning and Land Management, Mick Gentleman said the updated paper highlighted the work completed over the past year, including community and industry consultation by district, the drafting of new legislation and ongoing technical planning.
“It also signals some of the work continuing into next year, including the new Planning Bill, which will be released for community and industry engagement in early 2022,” Mr Gentleman said.
“The Planning Bill will be the project’s first key reform rolled out for community consultation,” he said.
Mr Gentleman said the proposed changes included expanding the Planning Act to be inclusive of wellbeing, ecological sustainability and liveability principles; have more efficient and transparent development assessment pathways and decisions; introduce the category of ‘significant development’; and improve transparency due to website upgrades and better public access to information.
“Government is also considering the ways in which people interact with the planning system and considering how improvements to IT systems and detailed guidance material can support the implementation of changes in 2023,” he said.
“It’s important to make interacting with the planning system as easy as possible.
“The community needs to quickly see what’s being built near them and to have their say on these developments.”
Mr Gentleman said an upgraded IT system would be included in the reforms to make the planning processes simpler and more accessible to Canberrans.
The Directorate’s 37-page Project Update can be accessed at this PS News link.
