Ms Phoebe Duvall:

One of the issues we touched on briefly is the requirements for strategic environmental assessments, especially for development plans and interactions between development plans and national planning statements. Strategic environmental assessments are required for plans and programmes, including forward planning, especially where those plans are setting out criteria for development management, as development plans do. When major national level policy comes in, such as the new national planning statements, that constitutes a need for strategic environment assessments. The provisions in section 61 on the expedited amendment of the development plan on foot of a national planning statement, currently state screening is required. We are of the view that because it cannot be considered a minor change, on foot of major national policy, an SEA is required. Public participation obligations come with that. As proposed, the participation requirements in the expedited amendment procedure only kick in when an SEA is needed. There are some errors. Does Dr. Logue have anything to add?