Any shift to significantly increase the number of houses permitted in Canberra's suburban areas needs to be done well and be guided by clear rules that protect green space, the chair of a prominent community council has said.
Inner South Canberra Community Council chair Marea Fatseas said the group had concerns about a potential shift in the new ACT's new planning system to expand what can be built in areas currently zoned RZ1, which generally limits most suburban areas in the city to single detached housing.
"We can see from the current heatwave in Europe of multiple days over 40 degrees, it's not enough just to say all RZ1 blocks should be upzoned, without clear proposals of how enough green space on private open space, where people live, will be provided to ensure liveability in a warming climate," Mrs Fatseas said.
"There is an importance of green space with respect to providing enough space for deep rooted trees that can provide canopy cover to reduce heat islands. Existing leafy suburbs are up to 10 degrees cooler in summer than new suburbs with little green space [or] canopy cover."
Griffith Narrabundah Community Association president David Denham said clear rules and compliance was needed in any changes to zoning rules.
"The developer is going to try and get maximum return on the block, quite naturally. The person who lives in the street would rather have a small house with a big garden next door to them, so there's lots of greenery and it looks good," Mr Denham said.
"So the trouble is that with the new system, outcome focused, there's no quantitative process to decide what's good or bad."
ACT Labor's policy platform was on Saturday amended at the party's annual conference to support significant changes to the suburban zoning system and limiting third-party appeal rights on development applications.
The motion to chance ACT Labor's policy on zoning reform was moved by Howard Maclean, a party delegate and the convener of Greater Canberra, a community action group that has been campaigning for planning system changes to allow more housing in Canberra.
Greater Canberra is also a member of the Missing Middle coalition, a group of 15 community groups and business organisations which have called for planning system changes to allow more medium density housing in the ACT.
Mrs Fatseas said there had been a lack of transparency in Greater Canberra's portrayal of itself as a non-aligned community group.
"The group seems to model itself on the Greater Auckland group in NZ that lobbied to get upzoning of residential land in Auckland. There have been concerns by the New Zealand environment commissioner on the loss of green space, so it's a question of how urban intensification is done," she said.
Greater Canberra had partnered with 15 community and business groups to launch a Missing Middle Canberra campaign calling for the reform of the RZ1 zoning. The groups include the Master Builders, the YWCA, the Conservation Council and the ACT Council of Social Service.
Master Builders ACT chief executive Michael Hopkins said the current planning system reform project offered a perfect opportunity to reform the RZ1 zoning rules, and the association also welcomed Labor platform changes to recognise the importance of trade contractor licensing and limits to third-party development approval appeals.
Transport Minister Chris Steel spoke at the party conference to support a shift to upzoning in planning law.
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