The Tasmanian majority Liberal Government is determined to keep our economy strong and support and facilitate appropriate development and our building industry.
We made a commitment to replace the unused and inadequate Projects of Regional Significance process and we will be introducing legislation to Parliament in May this year to provide for the independent assessment of Major Projects.
Our new Major Projects assessment process is independent, comprehensive and rigorous, and will provide certainty for proponents and transparency for the community.
It will provide for the assessment of development proposals of significant scale, impact or complexity, those that cross municipal boundaries and those that require assessment under multiple Acts.
Proposals declared to be Major Projects will be assessed by an independent expert Panel specially convened by the Tasmanian Planning Commission.
The Panel will also coordinate a range of other related permit approvals processes as provided for under the Act. Statutory regulators will undertake their normal assessment within defined time frames and their advice will form part of the consolidated decision on a Major Project permit.
The draft Major Projects Bill has been through two periods of public consultation in 2017 and 2018, and significant work has been undertaken to consider the issues raised and to refine the assessment process accordingly.
We have taken our time to revise the draft Bill to ensure that the new major projects assessment process is independent, comprehensive and rigorous, and one which provides certainty to proponents and transparency for the community.