Current at: 12 August 2008
HIA has welcomed the ACT Planning and Land Authority’s (ACTPLA) latest regulatory changes that address issues arising out of planning reforms introduced in March this year.
These regulatory changes are intended to overcome many unnecessary delays caused by minor amendments to development approvals (DA) by inserting a range of provisions that will "over-ride" a DA.
The regulatory changes have arisen out of a further meeting HIA has had with ACTPLA. At its earlier meeting HIA worked with ACTPLA to simplify its DA forms.
More recently HIA called on ACTPLA to allow for construction tolerances and other permitted variations to DA’s to be accepted without developers having to obtain DA amendments.
This has resulted in the introduction of a 340mm tolerance for floor levels (which equates to the height of 4 courses of brickwork). The tolerance applies horizontally and vertically provided there is no encroachment of setbacks.
There are still other areas where changes to reforms are needed but by continuing to work more closely with industry, government will be in a better position to understand the practical implications of their planning system.
To see a statement outlining the changes, click here