Rural Planning gets put on hold
The actions in the Northern Territory parliament last month have created uncertainty and confusion in the property industry around the NT Planning Scheme.
On the 25th August 2015, a majority of the members of the Northern Territory Parliament took unprecedented steps by removing the Litchfield subregion from the Darwin Regional Land Use Plan.
The Property Council of Australia’s Director Northern Territory Ruth Palmer said “It is not clear what the serious concerns are regarding the Litchfield subregion plan.
“Whatever the issues may be, they must be explained to the entire Top End community.
“Business confidence in the construction and property industry is not particularly strong at the moment, largely due to the expected decrease in business and construction activity post Ichthys.
“The uncertainty surrounding the Darwin Regional Land Use Plan may further erode business confidence in the construction and property industry.
“Removing the Lichfield subregion from the Darwin Regional Land Use plan will likely have a number of unintended consequences. The Palmerston hospital was the first, but there will likely be more in the future.”
The Darwin Regional Land Use plan was the first step in the process in creating detailed plans for all of the subregions in the Top End. The next phase for the Litchfield area is the creation of a subregional plan.
“Once the subregional plan is completed, area plans will then be developed indicating detailed land use.”
During this entire process the community and various stakeholders will be consulted.
“The Planning Commission’s role is to develop long term planning frameworks that guide the management of land use to meet the needs of the community. The Planning Commission does not recommend re-zonings per se, so it’s not clear why such drastic measures were required by Parliament.”
Media contact: Ruth Palmer | M 04 428 314 | E [email protected]