MASTER BUILDERS FRONTS UP TO THE STANDING COMMITTEE ON PLANNING, PUBLIC WORKS AND TERRITORY REGARDING THE INQUIRY INTO DRAFT VARIATION 306 Recently, Master Builders Association of the ACT attended the STANDING COMMITTEE ON PLANNING, PUBLIC WORKS AND TERRITORY AND MUNICIPAL SERVICES to discuss dv 306. below are extracts from MBA Deputy Executive Director, Jerry Howard's opening address to the committee.
Edition 5-2012 http://www.mba.org.au/ files/view/?id=594 Master Builders Executive Council President – Ross Barrett Treasurer – Simon Butt Chair, Commercial Builders’ Sector Council – Valdis Luks Chair, Suppliers and Subcontractors’ Sector Council – Grace Ferreira Chair, Residential Builders’ Sector Council –Frank Porreca Chair, Civil Contractors’ Sector Council – Andy Crompton Chair, Professional Consultants’ Sector Council – Hans Sommer Master Builders Management team Executive Director – John Miller Deputy Executive Director – Jerry Howard Director Industrial Relations – Mike Baldwin Senior Management Accountant – Louise MacCallum Senior Manager - Marketing & Membership Services – David Leitch Master Builders Group Training General Manager – Wendy Tengstrom
Master Builders Association of the ACT 1 Iron Knob St, Fyshwick ACT 2609 PO Box 1211, Fyshwick ACT 2609 Tel: (02) 6247 2099 Fax: (02) 6249 8374 Email: canberra@mba.org.au Web: www.mba.org.au
Glen Dowse, Alastair MacCallum and myself were invited, on behalf of the MBA, to address the Inquiry into Draft Variation 306, on 6th July. Glen and Alastair did an excellent job in modelling some typical designs and the impact that DV306 will have on what are considered to be fairly standard designs. The Committee members were given practical/visual applications and I felt that this was of enormous benefit in the presentation of our case for a serious review of DV306. The full transcript of our presentation is available on the MBA’s website under Media Releases. I have extracted some statements from our presentation highlighting the fact that we are seeking an independent review for DV306 and also highlighting the problems overall with the document and its application. “It is disappointing that a few years on we are now being confronted with another system. We are really at a loss as to why the previous system wasn’t given enough time to settle in. We are also at a loss as to why we are now confronted with, essentially, what is almost another new planning system. We do believe that this system, if implemented in its current form, has the potential to essentially drive a lot more applications through the merit track process. That would put greater strain on ACTPLA. It will actually take ACTPLA’s valuable resources away from the task that they should be doing—strategic planning—and we
will be dealing with more applications through the merit process. It also has the potential to drive lots of applications back through ACAT. We will essentially have decisions made by ACAT which, of course, has been the constant cry from our industry because of excessive holding costs and delays. What we want is some certainty. I think this is what we are calling for here: this is a significant change. This is a significant change that warrants an independent review. We believe that such a review should really look at the benefits. What are we trying to achieve with this system? What are we trying to achieve with the potential implementation of DV 306 if it actually does get through the next Assembly? What are going to be the benefits? What are going to be the benefits to the end users and what will be the negative impacts for the territory, given that we have to compete with cross-border planning systems? We know that we are struggling with housing affordability. We have got chronic shortages of accommodation in the ACT. We have got a carbon tax that has just been implemented. We have uncertainty in the industry. We are heading into very uncertain times. Land sales are declining and I believe that we are almost at a tipping point. We should therefore be extremely careful and cautious before we implement any new planning system.”