Page 4014 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 30 October 2013
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The testing concept had substantially greater convention, exhibition, meeting and banqueting capacity than the existing National Convention Centre. Car parking could be located off site, across the road in the proposed retail complex, with potential tunnel access, thereby assisting with the development packaging of adjacent property and serving other future city to the lake and Civic projects. Security is an increasingly important design criterion. Separate secure VIP access can easily be accommodated and the car park can be located on an adjacent site which will substantially assist in risk management.
Now that a decision has been made about the Australia forum location there will be a number of benefits that will flow on. These include an uplift in land value around City Hill and informing decisions by both government and the private sector on future investment in the city and, critically, about the locations for hotels and retail development. The decision will also drive major enhancements to the design of Vernon Circle and City Hill itself and, importantly, the traffic arrangements through the centre of our city. City Hill will become the pre-eminent space in the city rather than the isolated space it is at the moment within a high speed roundabout.
Symbolically, the Australia forum connects the pillars of Canberra’s knowledge economy. The location on City Hill sits at the confluence of the city, the parliamentary triangle and on the corridor between the ANU and CSIRO, Russell and Canberra International Airport. This sends a very powerful message that Canberra is the right location for international dialogue, Australia’s big conversations, and for bringing minds together on science, technology, health and public policy. It will bring education, research, government and business closer together and will spur further growth in the knowledge economy and tourism.
The City Hill site has now been identified in the draft city plan as the preferred site for the Australia forum. There are certainly very strong synergies with the Civic Square and theatre precinct and possible new ACT government office buildings. The site also has direct access to the potential capital metro light rail route around Vernon Circle and radiating along major avenues.
The next step for the Australia forum project will be to get the pre-design phase right. This will involve finalising the functional brief with the detailed operational components. This fuller brief will be used to inform the next stage of establishing a reference design and an indicative budget as the basis of design development. The Economic Development Directorate will be working closely with the Canberra Convention Bureau and the Business Council in the coming weeks and months to confirm these next steps as part of the process of bringing the Australia forum to investment-ready status.
I am pleased with the outcome of the Australia forum process so far. I am excited by the concept development process and the outcome that occurred from the workshop and the prospect of finally now having an agreed site across all stakeholders at City Hill. I believe that the proposed siting and the concept developed will bring considerable economic benefit to the ACT and will enhance the international profile of the city. But I must take this opportunity to reiterate again what the government has
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