The footpath outside the Botanical development in May. Photo: James Coleman.
The two major parties have combined in the Legislative Assembly to rebuff a bid from Independent Thomas Emerson to overturn the deferral of a new fee system for builders blocking footpaths and roads around construction sites.
The Barr Government had decided to slug developers in the hope a financial penalty would encourage builders to find ways to keep footpaths open during construction projects – a decision Mr Emerson applauded.
But the Property Council successfully lobbied the government to postpone the fees for a year so industry could adjust, saying the fees had been introduced without consultation.
It also argued the fees could add thousands of dollars to project costs.
The council said it would continue to work with the City and Environment Directorate on the proposed charges to get the balance right.
But City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne recommitted the government to imposing the fees from 1 July 2026, at the same time announcing the so-called ‘barbecue tax’, another fee for holding events on public land, would be waived for non-commercial uses.
Ms Cheyne said those who had already paid could expect refunds.
The new developer fees were a response to complaints from pedestrians, wheelchair users and cyclists who had to take detours or risk the road to get past construction sites, the most notable being Amalgamated Property Group’s Botanical site on Northbourne Avenue in Turner.
Mr Emerson asked if these groups were consulted on the deferral or if it was a case of the government backsliding when there was industry pushback.
He said the ACT was an outlier on this issue with other cities in Australia already charging developers for using unleased public land around construction sites.
He said the new fees would not be retrospective and only affect new projects, giving industry enough time to adjust to the regime and find ways to keep footpaths and roads open if they wanted to avoid paying.
Independent Thomas Emerson: government backsliding. Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Mr Emerson said Pedal Power, Canberra by Bike, the Conservation Council, Living Streets Canberra, and the Braddon Collective had all supported the new fees and warned of the continued risk of harm to Canberrans.
“If this Assembly is serious about the needs of our community, we should pass this motion, bring in fees for the closure of footpaths in this financial year, to meaningfully prioritise pedestrians and cyclists in our cityscape, acknowledging their needs must actually be centred in decision-making processes if we want to stop Canberra from remaining the least walkable major city in our country,” he said.
Mr Emerson said if this can was kicked down the road, government would not know the effect of these fees until mid-2027 at the earliest.
He said further lobbying could result in another delay or the fees wiped altogether.
Ms Cheyne said industry was unprepared for the change and simply slugging builders would defeat the intent of the fees.
“What options then would the government have, just go out and enforce, and fine all these people because they don’t have the necessary gantries or the fat built into their budget to change their construction plans?” Ms Cheyne said.
She raised the spectre of housing projects becoming unviable, placing additional strain on industry to deliver much-needed new homes.
Her position was supported by Liberal James Milligan.
But Mr Emerson said the cost for closing footpaths would be $100 per day per block and the maximum cost was $200 per day for a 24-hour closure.
“If that’s the difference between a development being affordable and viable or not, I’d be very surprised,” he said.
The Greens and Independent Fiona Carrick supported Mr Emerson’s motion which lost 17-6.
