Fyshwick business and property owners can breathe a bit easier today with the introduction of the Planning and Development Amendment Bill 2021 which will deliver much-needed certainty to the 1000 organisations and 13,000 workers in Fyshwick.
“The decision to ban the development of new waste facilities and the expansion of existing waste facilities in Fyshwick, recognises the overwhelming tide of opposition to large scale waste facilities which had been proposed for Fyshwick,” Fyshwick Business Association President Rob Evans said.
“We made it clear we would hold all political parties to account when they committed to opposing such facilities during the ACT election last October, and we are pleased to see the Assembly deliver on that commitment.
“This threat has been hanging over us for years and this is a commonsense decision which explicitly acknowledges the evolution of Fyshwick as a light industrial, commercial and retail precinct.
“The Fyshwick Business Association has said about these proposals all along that they have the right idea but the wrong location. Given the proponents have been proceeding in good faith and have jumped through all the planning hoops required, the Government really has an obligation to work with them and to assist them relocate to appropriate alternate sites in the ACT.”
Mr Evans said the association noted the government was still able to make regulations which would allow for the carving out of sites, or classes of facilities, from the ban.
“While this bill is very welcome, it is only one step towards appropriate recognition of the needs of Fyshwick as Canberra’s second largest economic precinct, and the Fyshwick Business Association looks forward to engaging with the ACT Government in its ongoing policy work, looking at planning and waste policy matters.”
Read the Minister’s speech here.
Read the Bill here.
Read the explanatory statement here.