Canberra Times: Revamp of the planning process builds a sound footing

The following editorial was published in the Sunday Canberra Times on 28 March 2010. It discusses how recent changes that have been passed through the ACT Legislative Assembly ensure that development applications are automatically approved 120 days after lodgement and the only avenue of appeal is on matters of law through the Supreme Court. It would appear that this new change to the Act undermines the proposed bill which ACT Greens MLA Caroline Le Couteur was going to table (or may have already attempted to table in late 2009) and the community councils agreed to promote recently. The debate has …