ACT Labor, Canberra Liberals vote against Greens' Jo Clay motion into zoning changes

Greens member Jo Clay, who is a member of the planning committee, brought forward a motion to the Assembly but it drew ire from her fellow committee members who took objection to a member of the committee proposing an inquiry.

Ms Clay had proposed to hold an inquiry into different models of density, telling the Assembly it was necessary to address both climate and housing issues.

"We want high-quality densification including that missing middle medium-density housing the community has been calling for because this is the only way to tackle the problems we are facing," she said.

"We need planning and design settings that deliver a compact city that is less reliant on cars [and] we need to prioritise livability in a changing climate."

Ms Clay urged the Assembly to support the inquiry so it could start soon. She said if it was not debated until the next sitting period, in May, it meant there would be no inquiry until the later half of the year.

But debate on the inquiry was blocked by Labor and Liberal members of the Assembly after members of the standing committee in planning, transport and city services expressed concern about the motion.

Ms Clay is the chair of the planning committee, which is the committee that would inquire into the zoning changes.

Committee member Mark Parton said he was concerned this had been brought forward in the Assembly.

"There's a number of things I would like to say but I can't because it would breach committee privilege," Mr Parton said.

"I have some concerns about the process that is playing out here."

Fellow planning committee member Suzanne Orr also echoed the concerns about how the motion was brought forward.

"I would really appreciate the opportunity to have discussion with the committee and for it to be done in the way that we've always conducted ourselves," she said.

Ms Clay has previously been outspoken against the ACT government's proposed planning bill. She expressed concerns around the short timeframe to consider the bill following an inquiry.

MORE A.C.T. POLITICS NEWS:

A coalition of housing advocates, community organisations and urban planners have called on the ACT government to ditch rules that limit suburbs to detached housing and allow for more townhouses and terraces in Canberra.

These changes are being considered as part of the government's planning review. Chief Planner Ben Ponton has said it is firmly on the table.

Chief Minister Andrew Barr has previously indicated support for the "missing middle" campaign, saying there would be great value in making it easier to build secondary houses in existing suburbs.

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