Page 261 - Week 01 - Thursday, 17 February 2011
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in particular approach routes, and around places which we think would be good for higher density.
Our last recommendation is an important one. In recommendation 15 we recommend that the Heritage Council expedite the assessment of a Northbourne housing precinct and finalise a conservation management plan for this precinct. People may be aware that significant quantities of land in the inner north, and particularly on each side of Northbourne Avenue, are owned by Housing ACT. They are subject to, at this stage, assessment by the Heritage Council for heritage significance, which is tying up a large area. This stock of housing is not being very well maintained by ACT Housing. Just going past it, as I do every day, you can see that it needs maintenance. It is clearly awaiting a decision as to its fate. What is needed is the heritage listing to be resolved. They are large blocks of land, they are large areas, and something needs to be done, which is better than the existing situation of houses becoming less attractive.
Finally, in the short amount of time left to me, I would like to talk about my additional comments. I felt that what we have got in the inner north precinct is a wonderful area to address the pressures that require change in Canberra. We have climate change and we have peak oil. It was distressing yesterday to find that the government does not consider peak oil in any of its plans, but peak oil will happen and this will influence how Canberra works. I think that as a community we have all recognised that climate change is going to happen. Last year we passed the 40 per cent greenhouse gas reduction target, but we need to start planning for these things, not just talking about them.
The inner north is an incredibly desirable place to live. It is close to Civic, major employment, major commercial, major entertainment. It has got two wonderful natural areas very close to it, Mount Ainslie, Black Mountain. It has got schools, it has got local shops, it has got local parks, it has got, you know, basically what people would like. It has got good transport connections to the rest of Canberra, it is a very frequent public transport, it is busy cycling and walking route.
But we need to change it. It needs to grow with the city’s growth. The inner north precinct was, of course, designed by Walter Burley Griffin, together with his wife and partner, Marion Mahony, and was part of the original design for Canberra. But that was for a projected population of 25,000 to 30,000. Our population is now 10 times this. We need a vision for a sustainable inner north. We have put it in here, and what we need now is the will to implement it.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (10.58): Firstly, I would like to put on the record my thanks to the chairwoman, Ms Porter, to the deputy chair, Ms Le Couteur, and to the committee secretary, Nicola Kosseck, for their work in putting this report together. I would also like to extend my thanks to Ms Le Couteur for giving a comprehensive run-down on the 15 recommendations included in the report. Given the summary that Ms Le Couteur has given the chamber, I will just speak about a few issues in particular that I think are worth highlighting.
I will go straight to the back of the report, being recommendation 15, which is:
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