Estimates - Housing and Planning - Addressing Climate Change Through Planning

Ms Burnet - Maybe. We've just passed legislation which was amended in the upper House in relation to the National Construction Code. There was the wish by the government to put a stop on that. Also, your predecessor, Mr Ellis, made significant incursions into the urban growth boundary and there has been numerous delays in the development of the regional land use strategies. I'm concerned about some of those really important components that address climate change. You've talked about some, but are you really serious about addressing climate change through planning?

Mr VINCENT - Certainly are. It's an essential part of everything that we do from, as I said before, roads to buildings. And it's something that everybody's fairly conscious of these days.

The delays with the land use strategy, the southern Tasmania land use strategy, at the moment sits with the planning office or the TPC?

Mr McPHAIL - It sits with us.

Mr VINCENT - The SPO. When I came into the role, it was fairly obvious that both the north and the north-west were lagging behind where we were expecting them to be. So, very strict timelines I've put on that, which is 30 June. Otherwise, it comes straight back into the planning office to proceed with that fairly quickly. We have been having discussions with Sean about various elements of that. But it is a key part of what we need in the planning system that is overdue and we are working flat out to make sure that that is done.

Ms Burnet - I noticed your announcement with, was it Ms O'Neil, in relation to the housing. Again, there could have been an opportunity to do that in the northern suburbs to introduce housing there. Housing and transport costs increase as you move out of major cities. Again, there are the environmental costs. How's that, signing up to have more houses out of fringes of the city, really addressing climate change?

Mr VINCENT - It's certainly using greenfield sites, and not spreading out the boundaries -

Ms Burnet - I think that might be.

Mr VINCENT - That both the TPC and the SPO, and the people that working through the land-use strategies have been fairly tight in their contingents on controlling. That's been the awkward bit for some of our rapidly growing regional areas in understanding some of those constraints that are put on them. It has also been a point of contention with quite a few developers that might be speculating on land for subdivisions that don't necessarily fit with the planning provisions anymore or the planning policies - is it? What's the last one we're just about to bring in there - policies, thank you. Just getting mixed up between the different titles, on what, and will be, looked at as areas. We are confining the focus of what is needed. Some of those areas - and you touched on public transport - that council needs to look at now, whether it has the connection to various things in the community that are going to make that work, and public transport is a big part of that, and other community services are that also. There have been some examples that have tested that a little bit in a few outlying areas, where adjustments to our thinking need to happen.

Ms Burnet - Thank you.