Presented by Robert Clark MP		www.robertclark.net

REPORT SLAMS MINISTER'S 'UNWORKABLE' RESCODE

News Release - Thursday, 18 January 2001

The Government's draft residential code, ResCode, has been condemned as 'unworkable' and 'impractical and unacceptable' in a report by the Minister's own Advisory Committee released yesterday.

Criticisms and findings in the Advisory Committee's extensive and detailed response include:

• 'protecting neighbourhood character through controls applying to single dwellings will require a more sophisticated approach than that proposed in ResCode' (p.71)

• ResCode 'will impose inefficient and unnecessary constraints on the major part of the housing market without guaranteeing better outcomes' (p.82)

• 'the Committee does not support the draft ResCode in its current form' (p.83)

• 'it is quite clear that the draft ResCode simply will not work' (p.83)

Shadow Planning Minister, Robert Clark, said the report backed many of the concerns which had been raised by the Opposition, resident groups, local government and the building industry following the Government's release of its ResCode proposals in June last year.

"The Opposition said that the draft ResCode was a half-baked, ill-considered document which should never have been released publicly, and this has been borne out by the Advisory Committee report.

"The incompetent handling of this issue by a part time Planning Minister who is clearly not on top of his portfolio has caused enormous cost and delay in introducing change to planning laws in Victoria, despite bipartisan support for the need for change.

"This has been compounded by the failure of the Minister to introduce any general interim planning controls while the new ResCode is being developed.

"The Opposition supports taking the time needed to get ResCode right, but this absence of interim controls means that the old rules, which Labor condemned while in Opposition, will continue to apply until at least the middle of this year, more than 20 months after Labor came to office."

Mr Clark said that while the Advisory Committee report recommendations would clear away many of the unworkable provisions of ResCode, a careful examination of the Committee's recommendations was required to ensure they struck the right balance.

Mr Clark said that concerns on an initial reading included whether some of the numerical standards recommended by the Committee provided adequate protection for neighbours on matters such as overlooking and overshadowing, and whether the procedures for dealing with applications to build single dwellings which did not comply with all standards would properly consider and protect neighbouring residents.