Page 3973 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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This new plan for the city centre will shape the way we live, work and enjoy the City into the future …
It goes on:
While the City’s broad place is defined within the National Capital Plan and the Territory Plan, there is no detailed plan that provides a cohesive direction for the development of the City.
Whilst the city plan may well tick that box, unless it is actually implemented it does not mean very much and, based on this government’s past form when it comes to plans, when it comes to glossy documents, when it comes to artists’ impressions, I do not hold out too much hope.
The draft city plan includes an area called city north-east. As far as I can see, for the first time the city has been led across Ballumbir Street. I believe such a change should be done with caution, and to date I have seen no reasoning in the city plan or any of the associated documents which points out the rationale for the move. Regardless of which past planning document you look at, all seem to feature the city boundary being Ballumbir Street.
The Civic centre Canberra plan of the NCDC of November 1987 and the Civic centre Canberra plan of February 1982 clearly show Ballumbir Street as the boundary throughout the documents. Tomorrow’s Canberra, again used by the NCDC but this one in 1970, shows Ballumbir Street as the boundary.
If the government has a good planning reason for extending the city over Ballumbir Street, other than simply a cash grab by Housing ACT, it should be articulated in the city plan. In fact, if anything, the document seems to argue against it. Page 62 of the city plan says:
Connection to neighbouring areas of Braddon and Reid are constrained by the arterial traffic on Cooyong and Ballumbir streets. The urban environment of these streets suffers as a result and pedestrians experience delays at intersections. Ainslie Avenue and Lonsdale Street are important north-east area connection locations.
That is all it says with regard to this part of the city. This is hardly an endorsement of the construction of 15-storey tower buildings which will increase traffic and detract from the urban environment of these streets. In fact, the city plan, on page 63, is quite inaccurate as it says that “currently there are less than 100 residents in the city north-east quadrant”. Of course, this cannot be so as the numbers in the ABC flats presently exceed that.
It seems to me that what has happened is that the city plan’s north-east quadrant originally stopped at Ballumbir Street, but upon a request by the government, perhaps a minister, they have hastily changed the boundary of the north-east quadrant but did not change the underpinning research. Further to this, in the opportunities section on page 63 of the plan, there is no mention whatsoever of redevelopment of the ABC
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