The National Capital Authority has defended the speed at which it approved the ACT government's proposed extension of light rail to Commonwealth Park.
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The authority on Tuesday night announced it had signed off on the territory's works approval application for the 1.7-kilometre line, which will link the city centre with Commonwealth Park.
The ACT Planning and Land Authority has now also approved the project, which the ACT government expects to begin building next year after signing contracts with Capital Metro later this year.
The extension to Commonwealth Park is still due for completion in 2026.
The ACT told a federal parliamentary inquiry in May the Woden light rail project risked being held up by Australia's most complex approvals process, which instead should be streamlined.
The territory said it wanted to find a faster way to cut through the multiple layers of approvals required, calling for talks with the Commonwealth to create a smoother system for signing off on the transport project.
National Capital Authority chief executive Sally Barnes on Wednesday said the three months taken for the authority to grant works approval was already a streamlined process.
"We received the last bit of technical documentation for the works approval in mid-March. We put all the documentation out for consultation on the 28th of March. We're now here in early July and we've had public consultation for six weeks, various meetings. Our people have gone through all the submissions. We've written a very detailed technical report and that's just over three months," Ms Barnes said.
"So I think we need to recalibrate any ideas that we take too long getting works approval."
ACT Transport Minister Chris Steel said there may be an opportunity to streamline the approval process for stage 2B of the project, which will go through the parliamentary triangle and require the sign-off of both houses of Federal Parliament.
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"There may be an opportunity, I think, to particularly work with the Federal Parliament around streamlining the process of approvals there so that it's in line with the work the NCA is doing and takes advice from the NCA along the way," he said.
Mr Steel said the ACT government was confident it would secure the support of both houses of parliament to build light rail through the parliamentary triangle.
"There are significant benefits to the federal government that we will be highlighting like providing mass transit access to up to 40,000 public servants that work in the parliamentary triangle, better access to public transport than they've currently had, but also to provide transport to their new national security precinct," he said.
The ACT budget, released last month, included $50 million for planning works for stage 2B, which will be built between Commonwealth Park and Woden.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
