Environment and Planning Forum (Epf)

ENVIRONMENT AND PLANNING FORUM (EPF)

4.30 pm – 6.00 pm Thursday 7 December 2017

RECORD OF MEETING

Community Councils and Industry

Damien Haas - Belconnen Community Council

David Denham – Inner South Community Council

Peter Moore – Kingston Barton Residents Group (KBRG)

Larry O’Loughlin – Conservation Council

Robin Stanton – Woden Valley Community Council

Denis O’Brien – North Canberra community Council

Chander Khera – Council of the Ageing

Gillian Helyar – Pedal Power

Ian Wood-Bradley – Planning Institute of Australia

Kevin Cox – Gungahlin Community Council

Michael Hopkins – Master Builders (partial)

Gina Pinkas – for Woden Valley Community Council

ACT Government

Brett Phillips – Executive Director, Planning Delivery, EPSDD (Chair)

Annie Lane – Executive Director, EPSDD (partial)

Bruce Fitzgerald – Executive Director, EPSDD (partial)

Brian Levine – Parks and Conservation Services (presenter)

Brendan McAvoy, TCCS (presenter)

David Matthews, TCCS (presenter)

Peter Steele, TCCS

Alexandra Magee – minute taker

Apologies

Ben Ponton – Director-General, EPSDD

Fiona Carrick – Woden Valley Community Council

Marea Fatseas – Inner South Community Council

Gay Williamson – Australian Institute of Landscape Architects

Pat McGlinn – Weston Creek Community Council

Craig Wallace – ACTCOSS

Jeff Ibbotson – Pedal Power

Stephen Hodge – Cycling Promotions Fund

1) Welcome and apologies

Brett Phillips welcomed members to the meeting.

2) Notes and actions from previous meeting

Actions from previous meeting:

·  David Denham raised an issue from the last meeting in relation to a loophole in the planning system regarding the notification of TCCS from Certifiers once an exempt development has been certified. David Matthews advised the group that this falls within Ben McHugh in TCCS has responsibility of Asset Management. Action: David Mwill arrange for Ben McHugh to call David D to discuss the matter.

3) Director-General’s update report

Brett Phillips circulated the update to all forum members.

Denis reminded the group that Section 72, Dickson community consultation is about to occur and that he, amongst others, has been involved in the project to date.

Action: Alex to circulate a soft copy of the report to all members.

4) Active Travel update

Brendan McAvoy provided an update to the group on bike share:

·  Brendan gave a run-down of the Active Travel Office responsibilities and priorities.

·  Bike share providers have approached TCCS with proposals. Brendan discussed the positives of these schemes and discussed concerns of the technology in other cities and how the ACT will be working to overcome those.

·  The relationship between TCCS/providers and the National Capital Authority to use this service within National Land will be very important.

·  Bike Share will likely be in the ACT after Christmas once the provider has completed all necessary paperwork and relevant permits.

·  Brendan clarified for the group that this service will be provided at no cost to Government and will be a private business operator.

·  Damien Hass encouraged Brendan to include Belconnen as a place for the scheme to be utilized. The University areas would provide significant client base for the scheme to run.

·  Brendan confirmed that there are some local small more boutique providers existing in Canberra, most commonly at hotels and the ANU.

Brendan also provided a brief update on current initiatives including the Bike Stops program (facilities for bike users) and a bike barometer which was installed in November near Sullivans Creek. This will provide data for Government to help improve the wider network. Brendan also noted that the Minister for Transport will tomorrow announce a new schools program ‘School Crossing Supervisors’. This will be rolled out across 20 schools in the ACT. The program will assist children at crossings and will begin in Term 1 2018. The Active Streets program will also be rolled out to another 25 schools following a successful trial of 4 schools in Belconnen. Larry O’Louglin asked for clarification on reporting by TCCS on changes to modes of travel.

Action: Brendan to arrange for a bike share provider to present to the group as the project progresses (2018).

5) Woden Interchange and bus networks

David Matthews presented to the group on the integrated transport network for 2018 and the Woden Bus Interchange. In summary:

·  2018 will be a big year for public transport in Canberra, including the introduction of light rail and changes to the bus network.

·  There were 18.3million passenger boardings in 2016/17

·  Bus travel accounted for over 26million kms per year across 90 routes.

·  Further work will happen in 2018 on the business case for Stage 2 of the light rail network, from the city to Woden.

·  Bus services will continue to expand and grow in the city, including a trial of electric and hybrid buses in the mainstream service.

·  2018/19 will include the next generation of ticketing systems. David clarified that the token system will have multiple ticketing channels, and will include modes that can be used by all abilities.

·  The group raised concerns about how visitors will use the system. David clarified that as with MyWay visitors can use cash when boarding.

·  The new ticketing system will strengthen the data available for Government on popular trips and help Government to plan the future network changes.

·  Damien Hass commented that the ability to recharge your MyWay card cannot be completed at interchanges and that this should be thought about in the new ticketing system.

·  David reassured the community that all existing functionalities with MyWay would be retained and further functions would also exist.

·  Transport Canberra have partnered with UBER for the first/last mile again this year as part of the Night Rider service.

·  Autonomous Vehicles – investigations are ongoing and will continue in 2018.

·  Rapid Bus service network increased over time and will continue to do so in 2018, including a full 7 day service.

·  More flexibility and products to help with the integrated approach to the network system. This will be a major focus for the next refresh.

·  New bus interchanges coming online, Gungahlin under construction and Dickson recently opened.

·  TCCS will report back in early 2018 on the first round of community consultation. Following this, TCCS will present a network map and indicative timetable for further consultation.

·  The new network will begin Term 3, 2018 to coincide with the schools services beginning.

·  David touched on the Woden Bus Interchange, and noted that a separate presentation is planned for the Woden Community Council shortly.

·  Gina Pinkas asked about how the bus interchange will be linked to the town Centre and asked if TCCS are looking to ‘reserve’ land for this purpose.

Action: Circulate the presentation to the group following the meeting.

6) Strategic Bushfire Preparedness

Brian Levine presented to the group on bushfire preparedness in the ACT. In summary:

·  The BOM release fire ratings each day and the Parks and Conservation Service (PCS) respond accordingly and including standing-up additional resources if needed.

·  Managing the risks is something that PCS continue to work on, to make sure we have the appropriate firefighters at the appropriate locations.

·  The weather, including the saturation of the soil, is important when looking at fire modelling.

·  Using significant data modelling is part of the PCS planning model.

·  The ACT doesn’t work in isolation and works very closely with the NSW and other regional councils to create a regional approach to fire analysis.

·  In the future the PCS will look at collecting data from residential and commercial weather stations that will increase the data set for the PCS to use.

·  There is a need to increase the data in rural areas, to increase our knowledge and data for areas that are hard to reach.

·  Damien Hass suggested that PCS would benefit from liaising with proponents such as Riverview in Belconnen to help with weather stations and data collection.

·  PCS are working with the Emergency Services Agency to develop a website to inform the community about fire danger.

·  Brian provided some practical examples of the different rain and weather patterns across the ACT. This reinforces the need for multiple data stations to record data and allocate resources.

8) Members issues

Peter Moore tabled a summary report of topics and issues that he proposes be considered by the group in 2018. Brett asked for the group to take away the list for discussion at the first meeting of 2018. Damien Hass noted that a number of the topics listed are political in nature and may not be appropriate for this forum.

Action: Circulate to the group Peter’s list for the group to consider.

The group decided that the first meeting of 2018 will be a planning meeting. Future meetings will include one presentation only and one agreed item for discussion.

Possible future agenda item: Housing Choices presentation.

9) Other business

Nil.

10) Next meeting

2018 meeting dates to be confirmed in the new-year.

Appendix A Action Summary Table

Action / Status
7 December 2017
1 / Circulate copy of Director-General’s report / Alex Magee / Complete
2 / Circulate copy of presentation by TCCS on bus network / Alex Magee / Complete
3 / Circulate a copy of list of EMB items to discuss (tabled by Peter Moore) / Alex Magee. Comments to be sent to Peter Moore by all Members / Report circulated. Complete
Discussions to continue in 2018. Peter to lead.

Outstanding action items:

Action / Status
As at 19 October 2017
1 / Action item: Rohen to present to TCC about census data. / In progress
2 / Action item: Rohen to send information to Belconnen Community Council / In progress
3 / Action item: Mayumi Smith to contact Pat and seek response to answer DA query / In progress
4 / Action item: Ben to investigate whether the rules associated with repairs were different for apartments over four storeys (from July EPF meeting) / In progress

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