Just how gentle the Chief Minister's "gentle urbanism" would be has been revealed with the publication of the documents that form the basis of the ACT's new planning system.
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Some detached-home evangelists may find this change to be the end of the Garden City as we know it, but the changes - which will allow clever, small homes to be built in existing areas without turning them into concrete jungles - are likely to be well received.
The dual occupancy changes, which will make it more attractive to build a second home on a large suburban block by introducing the option for separate unit titling, and allowing two-storey apartments in RZ2 areas will introduce a new housing type to more areas.
On larger RZ1 blocks, new secondary homes can be 120 square metres. This, don't forget, is bigger than plenty of existing three-bedroom government and ex-government houses.
The new territory plan has also not set out to rezone large parts of the city, shaking up what can be built where. This will relieve some community advocates and infuriate others who have called for rapid action to deliver more so-called missing middle housing.
On the numbers, the government will be able to point to their modelling that says Canberra can fit more than the number of dwellings it needs before 2050 in the footprint it has under the new system and district strategies.
Not all new housing needed each year in Canberra - about 4000 homes - would come from dual occupancy projects, Chief Minister Andrew Barr said.
He's right, of course, but there's scant detail on the expected uptake of the dual occupancy changes. Mr Barr said it was not compulsory to build a second dwelling on your block bigger than 800 square metres.
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Indeed, but it may not be enough to rely on private home owners to deliver the changes to the city's urban fabric that will deliver more housing choice. An expanded RZ2 area may have done more to encourage clever redevelopment with its new provision for relatively small walk-up apartment buildings.
The other unknowns of the system are whether development applications will be processed in a timely way consistent with the design guides and other specifications.
It will be interesting, too, to see what latitude the planning authority applies to the guidelines in this brave new outcomes-based world. How far will developers be able to go in justifying their schemes? That remains to be seen.
The new planning rules will go some of the way to bridging the gap between generations: from the older Canberrans whose houses have dramatically appreciated and the younger ones who'd like a place of their own.
Will this approach prove too gentle? That's the test the city faces.
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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.
