The Greenies have it all under control?????
A new plan for Canberra
Canberra needs a new planning system, and much better development.
The ACT Greens are committed to creating a city that supports our community needs, green space and urban heritage.
To do this, our planning system must deliver well designed, affordable, sustainable housing, and give the community a real say in how their neighbourhood develops.
Why do we need a new plan?
Canberra is changing, and not always for the better.
Too often, we’ve seen the community’s voice ignored, leading to poorly designed, unsustainable, low-quality development.
This fails to protect our urban tree canopy and green space needs, undermines our urban heritage and privileges developers over the people that live in a neighbourhood.
Our planning and development system needs serious reform, to prevent:
Poorly designed and constructed, unsustainable, low-quality new apartments that do not meet community expectations,
The destruction of our tree canopy, green spaces, heritage, views and neighbourhood aesthetics
Frustrating, bureaucratic processes that inhibit community participation and common sense decision-making
People being unable to afford to live in the neighbourhood that forms their community
Our plan to lead the nation on the quality of development
The ACT Greens will build on Canberra’s history as a planned city and strong expertise in sustainable design to lead the nation in quality urban development.
By bringing people together to find solutions, we will protect the things Canberrans love about our city - our trees, green space and heritage - while providing more affordable, sustainable and attractive housing fit for climate change and a 21st Century city.
The Greens plan will:
Substantially lift the quality and sustainability of the design and construction of new developments
Give the community a real say in how their neighbourhood develops
Better protect our trees and green space
Ensure the planning and housing system delivers affordable housing that is environmentally friendly, maintains green space and fits in with our urban heritage
Better protect Canberra’s heritage, including viewlines and national heritage areas
We will achieve these goals through a series of practical reforms, including:
Setting a 10 year pathway to shift to world’s best practice on climate-ready and environmentally-sustainable buildings
Changing land sales legislation so that major sites are sold for high-quality proposals, not just to the highest bidder
Ensuring land release will include at least one ‘showcase’ demonstration per year that pilots a major step forward in innovative sustainable development
Returning building certification of multi-unit residential developments to government control, and include all developments where builders or major subcontractors have been the subject of regulatory action by Access Canberra or WorkSafe
Ensuring the planning review focuses on quality, community engagement, affordable housing and protecting our trees and green space
Delivering a “community compact” process to find ways to encourage affordable housing while protecting our trees, green space and heritage. The compact will bring together residents’ groups, younger people, government and developers
Reach a 30% urban tree canopy across Canberra by changing the Tree Protection Act and planning system to protect our mature trees and make room for trees during development
Funding the heritage system to shift from reactive to proactive, so it can protect the things we love about Canberra.
Read the rest here
https://greens.org.au/act/planning