BCC Submission: Inquiry into the use of controlled activity order.
The Belconnen Community Council (BCC) welcomes the opportunity to contribute to the Committee’s inquiry into controlled activity orders (CAOs).
CAOs can provide a useful, relatively low-cost way to ensure Crown leaseholders meet their obligations and land delivers the outcomes for which it was leased.
The ACT Government needs to use this existing tool more regularly, consistently, and transparently.
This requires a clear process to identify non-compliance, decide when enforcement should occur, escalate persistent breaches and report on outcomes.
A clear framework would give leaseholders greater certainty, hold the Government more accountable and, importantly, give communities confidence that Crown lease land will not simply sit unused or underused indefinitely.
Residents should not have to chase Access Canberra before it uses these powers. Access Canberra should apply this tool regularly, consistently and transparently on behalf of the community.