Yesterday’s blazing row between the ACT Treasurer Andrew Barr and the Canberra Times has entered a second day.
Noel Towell has been put on the case and has had a chat to the Chief Minister on the issues.
Oddly enough no mention is made of the fireworks on facebook or Twitter.
But Barr is not content with the hose down and has launched a lengthy spray into the ether. It doesn’t quite resort to block caps, but there’s some emphatic use of bold text in there:
The Canberra Times article by Ewa Kretowicz “Barr set to fast-track Brumbies units plan” (23 January 2012) has completely misrepresented the actions of the Government and is factually incorrect.
The journalist has confused and merged a number of separate processes required to be completed under the Planning and Development Act before any residential development at the Brumbies site in Griffith could occur.
It is unfortunate that the information provided to the journalist to clarify these processes on the evening prior to the publication of the article was not included in the article.
Firstly, no decision has been made to date to change the zoning under the Territory Plan.
The planning minister Simon Corbell referred DV307 to the Legislative Assembly’s planning committee and the minister is required to take into account the committee’s report before he can approve a variation and table it in the Assembly. The legislation provides for a five-day disallowance period for any Territory Plan variation that is tabled, which means that it is up to the Assembly to determine whether a variation can commence or not.
So to be absolutely clear, only the Legislative Assembly can vary the Territory Plan.
Loading ...
