Page 127 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 14 February 2018
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city that we seek to renew should have its own distinct identity and urban renewal focus. We should not seek a homogenous outcome across the city. In fact, in each of the town centres there will be points of difference, either in the planning rules or in the local community response, desires or outcomes that are achieved.
One principal point of difference that the town centres have over the CBD is their capacity to sustain buildings of some height. We simply have to get over this phobia regarding buildings that are, even by Australian standards, not very tall. By international standards, if you go anywhere else in the world, they would laugh at you if you said that a 12-storey building is high rise. Even a 20-storey building is not high rise, yet we are stuck in this sort of small-town, backwards, 1940s mindset.
We need to move beyond that, and we also need to recognise that short, squat buildings that fill up all of the available space are not necessarily better outcomes than tall, elegant buildings. This is not an argument to say that every tall building is a good building; they have to be well designed. But they can be, and we should not be afraid of some height in some parts of the city of Canberra. For national statutory reasons, that will never be the case in the CBD, so that is a clear point of difference for town centres and it provides some greater economic impetus for investment in those centres as opposed to the CBD or the parliamentary triangle.
Having said that, I move the following amendment that has been circulated in my name:
Omit all words after “That this Assembly”, substitute:
“(1) notes that:
(a) as Canberra’s built form ages, a key priority for the ACT Government must be a continuous program of urban renewal, coordinated improvements to the public and private realms, that improves amenity, delivers better environmental outcomes and a diversity of housing choices;
(b) in the 2017-18 Budget, the ACT Government prioritised creating the central business district that Canberra deserves through the establishment of the City Renewal Authority;
(c) Canberra’s CBD, Dickson and the Northbourne Avenue corridor that make up the City Renewal Precinct are amongst the oldest areas of Canberra, while being Canberra’s key and growing centres of employment;
(d) the City Renewal Precinct has seen substantial land release for urban renewal with 51 000 square metres released in 2017-18, in addition to major renewal of privately held developments resulting from the ACT Government’s investment in light rail; and
(e) the City Renewal Authority is delivering a vibrant heart to the city;
(2) further notes:
(a) the process of urban renewal is delivered through a range of mechanisms, the creation of a dedicated agency is one means to deliver coordinated urban renewal;
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