Page 4083 - Week 11 - Thursday, 21 September 2017
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
federal government and political power. The former secretariat buildings hosted government administration from the earliest period of Canberra’s development in the mid-l920s.
They are significant not only as good examples of the inter-war stripped classical style, which became known as “federal capital architecture”, but also because of the historical activities and events that they have housed. For example, East Block accommodated Canberra’s first post office, servicing the city as well as the parliament. It was also the site of our first telephone exchange. The West Block dugout was a purpose-built World War II bomb shelter. Along with West Block, it housed the strategic international communication functions of Australia’s wartime activities during the Second World War.
This history has been recognised through the inclusion of these buildings on the Commonwealth heritage list, both in their own right and as part of the Parliament House vista—the central designed landscape of Canberra as envisaged by Walter Burley Griffin. The two buildings are also included on the national heritage list as part of the Old Parliament House and curtilage listing.
While the ACT government take an active interest in what happens with these heritage buildings, we do not have any direct planning powers in the parliamentary precinct. The proposed sale and future use of the East and West Block buildings falls under the planning jurisdiction of the federal government, with administration by the National Capital Authority through the National Capital Plan.
The federal government provided for the change of use for the East and West Block buildings through amendment 86 to the National Capital Plan, which passed in May 2016. Now, as a result of this amendment, permitted uses for the buildings may include commercial accommodation, community use, national association office, national capital use and office use. Importantly, they cannot be locked up as a residential development or turned into general retail. This is important for maintaining these buildings as publicly accessible spaces and in protecting the character of the surrounding precinct.
Following any sale, the commonwealth has indicated that the East and West Block buildings will be retained as national land and will therefore continue to be subject to the heritage protection afforded by their listing on the commonwealth and national heritage lists. The commonwealth has also indicated that heritage protections will be inserted into the crown leases to ensure that ongoing protections are maintained. Demolition of the buildings is not permitted under the heritage management plans and the crown leases for the properties. Changes to the internal layouts and external features may be allowed, but only where they comply with the existing heritage management plans. Consistent with these uses, the West Block building has been marketed by the federal government as an opportunity to adaptively re-use the building for a boutique hotel. East Block requires remediation work before the National Archives will be moving back in as a tenant under an eight-year lease.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video