News - Planning & development

ACTPLA met with representatives of all the Canberra Community Councils on 27/2/07 to discuss how they are going with their consultation processes. That they take such measures is a very good sign, and follows on from what I have found to be - while I've been with the GCC - a responsive and proactive approach to engaging with the community that they serve. Some other areas of the ACT Government could learn from ACTPLA's example...

Full meeting notes are here.

Issues I took to this meeting on behalf of the GCC included:

Some of the Territory Plan variations posted cause considerable work as they do not include explanations as to the changes (like perhaps an abbreviated version of a Regulatory Impact Statement?). I recently spent almost an hour going through a 'varied' fencing regulation, but could find no changes. When I spoke to ACTPLA about it, I was told there were no changes - they just had to re-publish it as it had a 'sunset' clause.

Meetings times are acceptable at 4.30pm, but should be no earlier, to allow for people who have other jobs to be able to attend (the benefits of flex...).

Reports, DA responses, etc should be by email to facilitate easy circulation and record keeping. Some are received by snail mail only and that causes work getting it into a form that can be circulated to other members.