St Augustine himself could not have made a more open confession than yesterday’s announcement of a third concurrent inquiry into planning in Canberra. It is an admission that the Government has made a complete hash of planning, especially in the past 18 moths. A lot of the responsibility for that lays at the feet of the Minister, Bill Wood.
The policy failure has been severalfold.
First, in the lead up to the draft Territory Plan, the Government listened to the developers and gave them open slather on residential development.
Second, in drafting the rules for medium density (both multi-occupancy on one block and block amalgamations) the Government made them apply virtually territory-wide. There was no limit set for particular neighbourhoods or suburbs, so in theory every house in a suburb could have multi occupancy or consolidation. In practice, many neighbourhoods are under threat of being transformed by them. Also, the rules applied to new outer areas (where there was no economic, environmental or social justification for in-fill) and to areas of historic import as well as the areas that needed renewal.
Third, the Government allowed many developments requiring radical lease-purpose changes to go ahead on a one-by-one basis. This gave rise to a feeling and atmosphere of special deals and favours, even if when analysed in detail each could be justified.
Fourth, while allowing a bricks and mortar epidemic in the residential market, the Government has also made a hash of the commercial market by dithering at a time the commercial market needs certainty.
Mr Wood has sat on his hands while the commercial market has sought a policy on the renewal of 50-year leases. Meanwhile, long-term financing uncertainty has caused investors to go elsewhere.
And he has gone to another extreme by dramatically increasing betterment tax and the way it is assessed (it is now 100 per cent of the difference in value generated by a change in lease purpose). There were good grounds for something like 80 per cent to make some allowance for the economic efficiency generated by an existing lessee changing the use of the land to meet new circumstances.
Some politicians take comfort when they are attacked from both sides in a debate. But there is no comfort here. This Minister has failed both existing residents and a large part of the commercial development market.
A good policy should ensure a good return to the community for the sale of land; healthy economic development; protection of residential amenity; efficient use of land so that infrastructure costs are minimised; and open, accountable, timely and consistent public administration. Some of those ends will conflict from time to time. Present policy seems to ensure they conflict all the time.
Some percentage limits to in-fill area-by-area should be set. A change to the betterment regime is needed. And a policy on renewal or extension of 50-year leases is needed.
Each of these will involve upsetting some people. You cannot please all of the people all of the time. Mr Wood has to learn that it is better to upset some of the people some of the time than all of the people all of time.
At present land-tenure police in the ACT smacks of a policy generated by the last person the Minister happened to be listening to. In short, he has failed to make a considered judgment between competing interests and have the strength to stick to it.
Like St Augustine’s sins, the ACT Government’s sins over land tenure were many over a long period. And like St Augustine’s sins, the effect was the same. At least we can assume the ACT Government didn’t enjoy doing it.