The Tasmanian Greens today confirmed that they would not be voting in support of the Parliament Square Planning Permit Bill 2012, which was tabled in the House of Assembly today.
Greens Planning spokesperson Tim Morris MP said that philosophically the Greens do not support so-called ‘enabling’ legislation which seeks to remove projects from the state’s planning system.
“The Greens’ position to not vote in support of this Bill is not a reflection on whether we like or agree with the proposed redevelopment of Parliament Square or not, but rather that we do not agree with undermining the integrity of the State’s planning system by introducing enabling legislation,” Mr Morris said.
“Just as we did with the Meander Dam enabling legislation under the then-Bacon government, and the controversial Pulp Mill Assessment Act which has forever stained the legacy of the Lennon government, the Greens will vote against this latest piece of enabling legislation.”
“We do recognise however, that in the case of the Parliament Square redevelopment, Labor’s motivation is different to the Meander Dam and Pulp mill instances which were blatant attempts to override the planning system in defiance of decisions made by planning authorities.”
“The situation which has emerged with this development proposal is that despite the relevant planning authorities providing a planning permit, there does not appear to be a mechanism to break the deadlock which has arisen during the appeals process, arising from a matter of law relating to heritage law definitions.”
“Clearly the broader problem is how the important Historic Cultural Heritage Act 1995 interacts with planning processes and appeals provisions. However the enabling Bill will not resolve that problem, but instead just addresses this one specific case, leaving the problem to be resolved later.”
“We recognise the current development proposal has received its planning permits but fundamentally the Greens believe we have to stand up for the integrity of our planning system, and enabling legislation embarks the state down the slippery slope of changing the rules when it suits the needs of certain developments,” Mr Morris said.
