The ACT Greens have renewed calls for an overhaul of community consultation as part of development processes, saying the current system does not give local residents an adequate say in the decision-making process.
Residents groups and community councils continue to express their frustration at consultation processes where the outcome seems to be determined in advance.
A bill tabled by Greens member Caroline Le Couteur that would see a range of changes to the ACT's planning process is set to be debated in the Legislative Assembly next week.
Ms Le Couteur said new suburbs should not be exempt from pre-development application consultations and consultation should happen in cases where major changes are made by developers after initial community consultation is finished.
"We need to put accountability and community voices back into Canberra's planning system. For too long, community voices have not been considered as they should be. The government simply doesn't take community contributions about the kind of Canberra we need seriously," Ms Le Couteur said.
In February, a review into the pre-development application consultation process found most consultations analysed did not provide the minimum documentation to the community, including plain-English descriptions of the proposal and conceptual drawings.
Following the review, the ACT government said it would develop a charter of participation to give clearer guidelines on what was required in the consultation process.
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The Greens this week also called on the ACT government to clarify its intentions for the "temporary" car park slated for Cooleman Court.
The Sunday Canberra Times last week reported government officials had discussed having the land use status for the car park changed after it was built to make it more permanent.
"The ACT government needs to come clean on its plans for Cooleman Park, and for the Weston group centre," the Greens candidate for Murrumbidgee, Emma Davidson, said.
