Tony Powell AO, former National Capital Development Commissioner and a vocal critic of development activity in Canberra, spoke on 24 Oct about how to improve planning.  His title was ‘“KILLING CANBERRA” – coping with an incompetent ACT Government and the corruption of due process”.   His background paper and speaking notes are on the DRA website. Two key points were:

“What is needed is a planning organisation with a core of professional staff of the order of 100, civil engineers, transport planners, town and regional planners, architects, landscape planners and designers, economists, sociologists, project development managers, writers, publishers and public relations managers so as to be in a state of constant engagement with the local community, business  and trade interests, and thus dispense with the current practice of heavy reliance on external consultants which is largely unreliable and inefficient.”

“There is a widespread public apathy on the part of my children’s generation to become involved in town planning and social issues generally, and consequently there is a need for them to give more consideration to the effectiveness of political parties at election time because it is leading to the rise of the ‘professional politician’, which is not a good thing.”