The National Capital Authority has conceded that a plan to limit blocks in Forrest and Deakin to one residence per block has "polarised" the local community, but defended decisions to delay processing planning applications in the area.
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In February the authority released a draft amendment to the National Capital Plan to limit development in the area to one dwelling per block, except for blocks facing onto State Circle. This angered residents who had been working with the authority on development applications for townhouses, as well as others who had hoped to develop their blocks in the future.
New authority chief executive Sally Barnes told the hearing the authority began looking at the suburbs in 2016, considering the landscaping, the tree canopy and how the area fit with the idea of a "garden city". Following responses to a discussion paper in 2017, it released the draft amendment in February this year.
"The draft proposed to uphold the characteristics of the the neighbourhood by keeping one residence per block," Ms Barnes said.
"At the time the authority thought it may be better for all those people involved who were thinking of doing works to wait until that amendment had been processed to process their applications," she said, explaining why the authority had paused the progress on applications.
Ms Barnes said the authority wasn't trying to pre-empt the final decision on the amendment. "We were trying not to put people through undue process."
Local residents had claimed that they had been discouraged from lodging applications.
Under questioning from Labor member for Canberra Gai Brodtmann, Ms Barnes conceded that the authority had changed tack, and was now accepting and processing applications, with one application for the area currently being assessed. She said if others wanted their applications processed against the current National Capital Plan, she encouraged them to lodge an application.
Authority staff confirmed that an application must be assessed for approval based on the plan that is in place at the time the decision is made, not when the application is first received.
The National Capital Authority board is yet to decide if it will approve the draft amendment and recommend it to the minister, before it can be approved by parliament.
