Canberrans are being urged to have their say on a draft bill designed to further secure the balance between making housing more affordable, protecting the environment and ensuring Canberra can continue to develop and grow.
Today I released an exposure draft of the Development (Environmental Impact Statements) Amendment Bill 2010. The draft bill is designed to refine the triggers for an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) to ensure the level of environmental assessment is appropriate for the scale, complexity and likely impact of a proposed development.
The ACT Labor Government is determined to ensure Canberra continues to develop in a sustainable way. This means cutting red tape but also ensuring the environment is protected.
The building industry, which is so important for the ACT economy and the jobs of thousands of Canberrans, is telling us that too many developments are needlessly requiring an EIS. This is causing unnecessary delays particularly for infrastructure works in new suburbs.
If we are to keep our economy strong, make housing in Canberra more affordable and keep Canberrans in jobs, we need to ensure that new suburbs are developed in a sustainable way and that land is released as fast as possible. This draft bill aims to deliver this.
The draft bill seeks to alter Schedule 4 of the Planning and Development Act which lists the types of proposals that require an EIS. It is intended that in some cases the EIS trigger will be removed but the proposed development will still be subject to rigorous environmental assessment as part of the development assessment process. In other cases the EIS trigger would be fine-tuned so an EIS would be required only when a significant adverse environmental impact has been identified.
When required the EIS will be more focussed. For example projects involving the removal of native vegetation, road construction or stormwater ponds will now require an EIS when the relevant agency considers the project is likely to have a significant adverse environmental impact.
Strong protections are built into the draft bill, with a strengthened role for the Conservator of Flora and Fauna and the Environmental Protection Authority to determine whether a development is likely to have significant environmental impact. Provisions for a pre-application screening process will let developers know at a much earlier stage whether their proposed development needs an EIS.
The draft bill proposes that the Minister for Planning will retain the power to require an EIS where the Minister concludes a proposed development will have a significant adverse environmental impact.
Authorised by A.Barr, Australian Labor Party (ACT Branch), 21 Torrens Street, Braddon, 2612. Site by Kudasai
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