Project status: Closed

How you had your say

Thank you to everyone who participated in the consultation on the draft district strategies and draft Territory Plan.

During the consultation on the draft district strategies and draft Territory Plan, the community had the opportunity to ask questions to our planners. You can find these on the Ask a Question page. You can also view the range of consultation activities we undertook with the community during February on the Engagement schedule page.

You can now take a high-level look at what we heard during consultation in the Listening Report. A more detailed look and the government's response is found in the consultation report.

We looked at

Our city is growing. With more people living and working in Canberra than ever before, we need a planning system that can facilitate this growth without compromising the characteristics of the city that we value. The new planning system will deliver better outcomes for communities, the environment and people across Canberra. The reforms include a new Planning Act, new district strategies and a new Territory Plan.

We used your views to

Over the last four years we have worked with, and listened to, a wide variety of voices. This has enabled us to make sure these reforms strike the right balance with the views we have heard, and gives our territory the best planning framework to move forward and grow.

The ACT Government has released the final district strategies, the Territory Plan and Design Guides so the community and industry can familiarise themselves with the new system before it commences.

These documents, and more information on the new system, can be found on the ACT Government's Planning website.

The new planning system commenced on 27 November 2023.

The reformed planning system will require new proposals for developments and buildings around Canberra to consider their surrounding areas and the community’s values.

To achieve good planning outcomes, a range of matters need to be considered such as sustainability and resilience, cultural heritage, environment, high quality design principles, and how a development contributes positively to its context.

Written submissions

These submissions were received from the recent public consultation on the draft district strategies, draft Territory Plan, and the Explanation of Intended Effects (EIE) for design guides. These are the documents where we have publishing permissions from the authors. All submissions, regardless of their publishing permissions, were considered by the policy teams and reflected in the Consultation Report.

About the reforms

Because planning affects you, we wanted your help in making the reforms work for you.

The key changes to the planning system are:

  • a new Planning Act (Planning Bill)
  • a new Territory Plan
  • introducing district strategies

In 2022 we consulted the community on the daft Planning Bill. This set the scene for our recent consultation on draft district strategies and a new draft Territory Plan.

Overview of the new planning system