Ms BURNET (Clark) – Deputy Speaker, I rise today to pick up on some comments made by the Planning minister last Wednesday when he was responding to a motion put by Vica Bayley regarding tabling the State of the Environment report. There were some startling comments from the Planning minister, who was talking up the government’s approach to strategic planning. This seems to be quite contrary to the thinking that I am hearing from local government members, councilors and representatives, and what I have also gleaned from the recent Local Government Association of Tasmania (LGAT) conference.
Long term strategic planning has been something that the state does not do well. The government does not invest in strategic planning the way that it should. It delays and under‑funds at every turn. If you look at the regional land use strategies, the policy framework for high‑level planning in each of the three regions – for roads and transport, infrastructure for our urban growth boundaries, for industrial and recreational areas and so forth, for preparing communities and authorities for climate change – these are guiding documents for planners, councils, developers and the community alike.
Land use strategies look to protect landscapes and agricultural land and identify areas to increase density so that we get the housing mix right for the projected population of the area. There is a lot of information that is gleaned and relied upon to add to these land use strategies, and yet in this state, it is a policy framework whose replacement is overdue. It is 13 years since the last regional project finished.
This is shameful and careless. It is reckless to not see this as a priority for communities, developers and businesses alike across Tasmania. The way we use land has changed in those thirteen years in cities and in the country. If you look at a place like Brighton, the transport hub has gone out to Brighton. There is considerable population growth, so a regional land use strategy is really important to help plan in that area alone.
Regional land use strategies are the crossover between state interests and local outcomes, and the right stakeholders need to be at the table. Yet there is criticism, as I have said, from planners and members of the local government sector. There should also be representation to provide input into framework documents. This should be business as usual for governments. If you look to other states, there is a clear desire to develop their regions to be climate change ready, to plan for projected populations and to adjust zones with guidance from a firm, overriding strategy.
Last Wednesday, it was quite peculiar to hear Minister Ellis complain about the regional land use being out of date. It was quite ironic. Think about that for a moment. A strategy that is 13 years late for replacement is a bit like the delay of the preparation and release of the State of the Environment report, which was tabled today over 10 years late. How is it then that Minister Ellis can lay blame, as he did for the Stony Rise Village retail development south of the Homemaker Centre in Devonport, being refused on appeal based on the outdated North West Regional Land Use Strategy. If the government and multiple planning ministers before him had only updated it in good time, it is unlikely that this retail development would have been rejected by the TPC against an up-to-date strategy.
Regional land use strategies play a critical role in the planning system. They should enable the right development in the right places, informed by a process that has involved community and stakeholders in its formation.
These very overdue reviews have to deliver in a way that achieves the best outcomes, for it would be expected therefore that recurrent funding in the State Planning Office would foster strategic planning capacity, and it is unlikely that that is going to occur in the need that is required in this Budget. Quite often there is a bureaucratic approach to planning rather than a successful and strategic approach to planning under this government and minister’s watch. It is it is time to stop the hold-ups and to fund properly and invest in planning for Tasmania regions.
