News - Planning & development

Give them an inch and they'll take a skyscraper...

Well not according to ACT Planning Minister Andrew Barr. He has responded to our concerns about them removing height limits altogether for Commercial zoned land in the Gungahlin town centre. His unedited response follows.

Unfortunately it does not include a guarantee to put finite height limits back into the new Territory Plan. Instead, they are relying on assessing "against criteria such as whether it fits with the other developments in the area, and whether there would be overshadowing - among others."

Planners know what that means, we at GCC have a reasonable idea because we deal with this sort of thing regularly, but for the wider community, this represents a whole bunch of subjective uncertainty.

Our belief is that residents require a degree of certainty with planning in their communities. The way to remove doubt as to subjective assessments is to lock in defined numbers and limits. The previous Territory Plan had defined limits, the draft new Plan had them, and our submission supported increasing those defined limited a certain extent to make investment in local employment viable. Why the shift to complete removal?

Then there is the issue of the complete lack of up-front communication on this issue from ACTPLA. We've enjoyed an improving relationship with ACTPLA and the Minister over the last two years, but the information vacuum on this issue (and the treatment of the Flemington Road Concept Plan) has eroded a great deal of that trust. From: Andrew Barr
To: Alan Kerlin
Date: Fri, Mar 7, 2008 at 5:19 PM
Subject: Height restrictions for the CZ2 Business Zone in Gungahlin Town Centre


Dear Alan
 
I write in response to the concerns you have expressed on the GCC website about the removal of height restrictions for the CZ2 Business Zone in Gungahlin Town Centre.
 
The removal of a numbered height limit does not mean there can be unrestricted development of buildings in the area.
 
There will be criteria that any future development proposal or application would be assessed against. While the height restrictions for the CZ2 Business Zone in Gungahlin Town Centre have been removed in a numbered form, the criteria relating to scale, form, and compatibility with adjacent developments, including traffic management and car parking, remain firmly in place.
 
This means development will be assessed against criteria such as whether it fits with the other developments in the area, and whether there would be overshadowing - among others.  The proposed planning studies that are currently being undertaken for the Gungahlin Town Centre will inform the planning outcomes for traffic, car parking and building interface, at the time of sale of land in the CZ2 Business Zone. 
 
It is likely that land sold in this area would also be subject to GFA restrictions through any lease granted by the Government.
 
With this in mind, I believe you can reassure your Council that there is no risk that a 'sky scraper' would be approved for the Gungahlin Town Centre, unless such an outcome was to be arrived at through the Town Centre study, with the community's support.
 
Yours sincerely
 
Andrew Barr MLA
Minister for Planning

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