PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT
AMENDMENT BILL 2020
544. Hon TJORN SIBMA to the minister representing the
Minister for Planning:
I refer to the Planning and
Development Amendment Bill 2020.
(1) What logic drove the inclusion of the following
legal instruments—namely, the Contaminated Sites Act 2003,
Environmental Protection Act 1986, Heritage Act 2018, Swan and Canning Rivers
Management Act 2006 and the Swan Valley Planning Act 1995—as enactments
that will not constrain the Western Australian Planning Commission in its
decision-making regarding the approval or otherwise of development applications
to be categorised as significant developments?
(2) If the
aforementioned acts are the statutes that have the most common interaction with
planning decisions, to what degree could their ordinary consideration otherwise
be expected to deny or delay the approval of the so-called significant
developments contemplated by the bill?
(3) To what
degree will the ordinary consideration of the Main Roads Act 1930 as it
interacts with planning decisions similarly deny or delay the approval of the
so-called significant developments contemplated by the bill?
(4) Why was the
Main Roads Act 1930 not included among those legal instruments referred to at
(1)?
Hon
STEPHEN DAWSON replied:
I thank the honourable member for
some notice of the question. The following answer has been provided to me by
the Minister for Planning.
(1) The logic was
that these are the acts that most regularly intersect with the Planning and
Development Act 2005. The Western Australian
Planning Commission will continue to give due regard to all legislation.
The legislation referenced is relevant to the planning system but the
application varies depending on the circumstance. For example, the Heritage Act
has no relevance unless the land in question concerns a building or place on the state Register of Heritage Places. The Swan
Valley Planning Act has no relevance outside the Swan Valley area. The
Contaminated Sites Act relates only to sites that are contaminated.
(2) The acts
listed have their own processes and, where they apply, there can be procedural
delays. Providing the commission with greater flexibility will ensure that the
assessment process is efficient and responsive.
(3)–(4) The
main statute that impacts planning is not the Main Roads Act 1930 but the Local
Government (Uniform Local Provisions) Regulations 1996. The Local Government
(Uniform Local Provisions) Regulations 1996 were not referenced specifically
because the provision in question cites only acts and not subsidiary
legislation.