The Eastern Broadacre area is identified in the ACT Planning Strategy 2018 [PDF 18.5 MB] and in the East Canberra District Strategy for investigations into establishing new industrial and employment opportunities in parts of the area, while considering existing uses of the land and environmental values.
The Statement of Planning Priorities contains the following relevant priorities and actions:
- Outline Canberra’s future job and innovation precinct – Outline the future industrial, services and other land uses needed to support future employment and economic development in the Territory, including in the Eastern Broadacre; and
- Provide for environmental protections – Finalise key environmental and planning assessments in the Eastern Broadacre area to provide certainty about future use of the large corridor of the ACT and Commonwealth managed land.
The Eastern Broadacre area is subject to a strategic assessment (Eastern Broadacre Strategic Assessment (EBSA)) under the Commonwealth’s Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999, following the identification of threatened ecological communities in the area. The area contains critically endangered flora and fauna, such as natural temperate grassland, striped legless lizard and the grassland earless dragon.
The strategic assessment process will consider the potential impacts on nationally significant environmental values of proposed development in parts of the area. The strategic assessment will inform the future planning and potential rezoning of the district.
In April 2024, an initial draft EBSA was submitted to the Australian Government’s approval body, the Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW). In July 2024, DCCEEW provided comments on the draft EBSA documentation. As a result of these comments and advice from DCCEEW, further studies are being undertaken to inform the final draft EBSA.
The final draft EBSA is currently scheduled to be re-submitted to the DCCEEW in mid-2026. Public exhibition is anticipated to commence later in 2026, subject to agreement by the Commonwealth Government, noting there is no statutory timeframe for this to occur.
