17 August 2005

Seven Storey Simon strikes suburbs

| Kerces
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Zed Seselja has put out a press release about Simon Corbell’s varying the Territory Plan to allow a seven-storey development in Deakin.

This is despite the Planning and Environment Committee, which includes some of Mr Corbell’s own Labor colleagues, recommending only three to five storeys in the area.

The Planning Minister has also apparently ignored a petition of 450 Deakin residents opposing the proposed development on the Embassy Motel site.

Basically this is a fairly ordinary complaining presser, but I do like Zed’s new nickname for Corbell: Seven Storey Simon. More poetic than Earring Boy I think, and rather appropriate given his recent spate of high rise approvals.

(The Libs were getting poetic today, with Jacqui Burke also telling us all is not well at Ainslie Village)

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Someone should tell Simon that ‘recommendations’ and ‘occur’ are Basic Spelling (especially if you’re an ACT MLA) also that a seven storey construction would not be in the best interests of the denizens of the Diplomatic Quarter (a sniper would have a field day potting the occupants of DCs licence plated vehicles from that seventh storey. Has someone notified the feds ?

Simon, do you or do you not have responsibility over policy regarding maximum height as set out within the land use policies ?

Yes or No would be fine, but I’ll understand if you want to talk around the subject a little.

Have we hit a nerve Simon ?

We can’t play Simon Says without Simon.

Is realistic and unbiased public opinion a little bit too hard to fathom ?

So you are effectively saying that there is not one single item covering maximum height in the ACT Government land use policies ?

Just what kind of policies are we talking about, because I would have assumed that a policy governing height would have been right up there in my own priority books.

I just cannot accept that there is no ACT Government land use policy governing height restrictions. For starters it opens you up to civil negligence charges when buildings happen to fall over because they are too tall.

You might want to have a quick meeting to rustle something up Simon before this one gets out of hand. I’ve got two words to say to you.

Risk Assessment.

Simon Corbell3:22 pm 19 Aug 05

Thanks for your comments.

In relation to the most recent questions from johnboy, I would like to emphasise that at this stage there is no development application in place for the Deakin site.

The change to the Territory Plan allows multi unit residential to occour on this site, however the owner would still need to lodge a development application to proceed with any form of development and this has not occoured.

In simple terms, there is no development to assess at this time, and the issue of maximum height is set by the NCA. I cannot override their statutory powers in this regard.

Simon, your comments are much appreciated.

Sadly an explanation of your decision is still not available online. We would love to link to such a document to balance our reportage.

If the height is undesirable, and you have no control over it, then why not use your power to halt the development until appropriate assurances are given in writing?

We have every reason to believe the comment is genuine and from Simon himself.

But bonus marks for actually ringing his office Sam.

K

Samuel Gordon-Stewart5:22 pm 18 Aug 05

About half an hour ago I rang Mr. Corbell’s office to find out if the comment was actually his…the staff didn’t seem to know about it, but were unable to contact Simon at the time as he was in the assembly chamber.
As much as I’m not a fan of his work, I would rather that comments made under his name are actually his.

They said they’ll look into it, so I guess that if it isn’t his comment we may hear more about it.

I don’t know why we in Canberra have such a phobia of tall buildings…there must be a name for this???? The Embassy site would be a great spot for a high-rise, it would be a landmark on boring Adelaide Ave. And anyway there is nothing around the site but a club, gas station and football field but still the NIMBY’s want to have a whinge…what sooky la-la’s!

And Mr Corbell, after we’ve finished discussing the policy, I would like to chat about how much light rail you could purchase for the infrastructure of this city instead of a new palace for yourself.

Mr Corbell, I ask you how you can abide by a Territory plan policy, and allow another lobby group (NCA) to steamroll your department and assembly into allowing such a variation to go ahead without consulting the general populace ?

You cannot state that you oversee a policy that covers depth and width but not height, it falls outside all known rules of building and construction.

Simon,

This case points out everything that is wrong with the current planning system – a plethora of planning rules that no-one understands, the usual pointless round of “consultation” with residents, a developer-driven approach to planning decisions, and an anti-resident bias to everything that you and the planning authorities (plural) undertake.

What bothers me is that the proposed “reform” of the planning system is equally skewed against residents.

Chris Shelling

Hi Simon. I appreciate you giving us your side of the story.

Simon Corbell1:49 pm 18 Aug 05

Unfortunately the comments on this planning issue, and many others, are inaccurate, and unfair. The ACT Government cannot regulate the maximum building height for this site, only the National Capital Authority can. The reason for this is that the Deakin site is on a national approach route, and therefore the NCA have some planning responsibility. Importantly the NCA sets maximum building heights through Development Control Plans for these sites. The role of the ACT Government is to set the land use policies, this is why there is a Variation to the Territory Plan for this site, to include multi unit residential as a land use, along with accomodation ( i.e hotel/motel) uses. The proposal to include multi unit residential as a land use for the site was unaminously endorsed by the Assembly’s Planning and Environment Committee. I have not ignored the Committee’s reccomendations, however it is not within my power as ACT Planning Minister to set maximum building heights in this case.

Right, gotcha. Now it kinda works.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart10:50 am 18 Aug 05

It would have been more effective if I had mentioned that seven story buildings should roll down Black Mountain

“(pun most definetly intended)”

There was a pun?

Samuel Gordon-Stewart8:00 pm 17 Aug 05

yeah I know I know….but I was on a roll (pun most definetly intended)…I should get some sleep.

Careful Sam, ASIO will justify another pleasure dome if you keep up the hate talk.

Samuel Gordon-Stewart7:43 pm 17 Aug 05

Well, the new assembly will have to have at least seven stories…maybe more, possibly 50 if it is going on City Hill.

Maybe they will put some special seven stories along the proposed busway.

We need something on top of Telstra Tower, perhaps the Stanhope Mental Asylum…chuck the lot of ’em in, throw away the key and push the seven story building down the mountain…if they survive, give them a bravery medal and ship them off to the moon.

I posted the following as a story only to see Kerces had beaten me by two minutes.

The vagaries of Simon Corbell’s thought processes as he undoes decades of Canberra planning have prompted us to ask before; Is he Mad? Or is he Bad?

(Or the increasingly common answer “a little of column A, a little of column B”)

To add to the mix Zed Seselja has put out a media release on Simon’s latest rough-shod riding over the Planning and Environment Committee (note the 2-1 Labor majority).

So if seven story development is cool in Deakin where else can we expect it?

And now the circle is complete…

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