Chris Steel, ACT Minister for Planning, has finalised his 2024-2025 Statement of Planning Priorities, which serve as a guiding document for the ACT Government’s Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate’s (EPSDD) for the next financial year.

The planning priorities are:

• More housing in and around key precincts, shops, and rapid transport connections. A new Southern Gateway Planning and Design Framework, an integrated land-use and transport plan to extend Canberra’s mass-transit light rail line to Woden.
• To enable diverse housing choices and to increase the number of dwellings in the missing middle, such as townhouses, terrace homes, and low-rise apartments.
• To plan for the growth of Canberra’s newest regions.
• To outline Canberra’s future job and innovation precincts.
• To support community needs across the ACT.
• To identify and commence planning for Territory Priority Projects.
• To provide for environmental protections.
• To focus on design and implementation for the new planning system.

Canberra is expected to reach a population of almost 700,000 by 2050, Mr Steel said. “The major challenge and priority for the Government in meeting this growth is the supply of new housing.” The government’s next stage of planning reform is “enabling more housing that is well designed, sustainable and affordable”.

Through last year’s new District Strategies, the ACT Government intends to deliver between 117,000 to 148,000 dwellings by 2048 within the current urban footprint, and develop Canberra’s Western Edge and Eastern Broadacre. Last year, National Cabinet agreed to a countrywide target of 1.2 million new homes over five years; the ACT Government says it will deliver an above per capita share of the target.

“This next stage of planning reform will be focused on housing supply, and includes enabling more low density missing-middle housing in Canberra,” Mr Steel said.

“This document outlines the next steps in planning reform to support our growing city, including different types of homes in our city’s existing footprint and new greenfield areas.

“Canberra has a lot of high-density multi-unit housing and single-residential homes, but nothing much in-between. The Government has already made some changes to the Territory’s Planning system to enable the construction of a more diverse range of housing choices in both new and existing suburbs. 

“This next stage of reform focuses on opportunities to supply a greater diversity of housing such as townhouses, row houses and duplexes on residential blocks.  

“We can supply more housing in existing suburbs in a way that is well-designed and sustainable whilst maintaining the quality of life we enjoy in Canberra.”

In consultation with the community, the government will develop a draft missing middle design guide. This will determine how missing middle homes can be built on typical Canberra blocks and what is not acceptable.

“It’s important that the reform is design-led, working with ACT architects and the community to get it right for new and existing residents,” Mr Steel said.

“I want this design work to show in detail what forms of middle housing can fit into a typical Canberra street, down to the view from the neighbour’s window, and how we can incorporate green spaces and trees on a block with two or more homes.”

The Draft Design Guide will inform a future government’s consideration of changes to the Territory Plan to construction of additional missing middle housing in the ACT including townhouses, duplexes and row houses on RZ1, and other existing appropriately residential zoned blocks.   

“This is about building more homes where people want to live,” Mr Steel said. 

“More missing middle housing provides opportunities for older Canberrans to age in place, and more families to find a home with a garden near established services.”

Canberra Liberals

Canberra Liberals MLA Peter Cain, Shadow Minister for Planning and Land Management, said: “Canberrans should be very sceptical about any announcement on planning priorities given this government’s track record.

“Labor and the Greens have delivered an unclear and ineffectual new planning system, ignored the severe lack of integrity in planning governance, and consistently failed to provide genuine community and industry consultation.

“The ACT needs more residential housing, a problem that stems from years of starved land release and obstructive development policies under Labor and the Greens.

“Medium-density homes can, and should, play a big part of achieving our housing needs, but we should be wary of this coming at the cost of Canberra’s ‘Bush Capital’ and ‘Garden City’ characteristics, which are often present in our RZ1 areas.

“The Canberra Liberals have consulted extensively with community, industry and environmental stakeholders, which has informed our policy package to be released in the lead up to the election in October.”

ACT Greens

Jo Clay MLA, ACT Greens spokesperson for planning, said: “The Greens welcome further work to ensure Canberra gets the missing middle housing we desperately need. We can and must do this in a climate-friendly and environmentally sensitive way. We also need to make sure those homes are near public transport and services. That’s why we’ve been calling for zoning reform to support missing middle housing since August last year and will take this policy to the election.

“We were disappointed not to see stronger reforms in the four-year planning review that Labor’s Planning Ministers handed down this year. In a housing crisis, the new Territory Plan should have gone further and faster to boost housing in existing suburbs. But it’s fantastic to see Labor get on board now as it signals, with enough Greens in the Assembly, we can achieve these housing reforms next term.

“The Greens are also calling for an additional 10,000 public homes to be built and bought for Canberrans, as well as stronger renters’ rights and rental caps. This is the only way we will be able to provide enough affordable homes for our people.”