Monthly Archives: April 2019

ACT chief planner fails his own test

A DICKSON RESIDENT, CANBERRA, GOVERNANCE, opinions, planning, professions, urban development, URBANITY, , ,
Chief planner’s quotes come home to haunt him

Two years ago the new ACT chief planner, Ben Ponton, went on the record in the daily paper with a statement about how wonderful he would be. I have used those statements  to assess whether he has met his own key performance indicators (KPIs). He didn’t!

Here’s the piece in City News – click here.

Destroying Australia’s National Capital

A DICKSON RESIDENT, CANBERRA, GOVERNANCE, heritage, planning, urban development, URBANITY, , , ,
NCA quietly approves tower shock on Northbourne

There are serious problems with the National Capital Authority (NCA) that could be addressed by the soon-to-be-elected ACT Federal politicians. I have outlined the background to the issues in a piece in City News – click here

Wading through the fog of ‘busy words’

A DICKSON RESIDENT, CANBERRA, distraction, GOVERNANCE, opinions, planning, urban development, URBANITY, , ,

For residential representatives in Canberra, the last few months have been very onerous due to the simultaneous release of a load of government consultation documents as well as the usual tricky development applications (DA) that need to be consumed and feedback provided. Click here for my piece on this.

Labor’s mess, but where do the Libs stand on planning?

A DICKSON RESIDENT, CANBERRA, GOVERNANCE, opinions, politics, trees, urban design, URBANITY, , ,

The ACT Greens/Labor coalition government has a host of ministers who are making a mess of the planning and development of Canberra’s urban environments. The question asked by the community sectors is where do the ACT Liberals stand on these planning issues. Click here for my piece in City News on this topic.

Downer residents rally against development push

A DICKSON RESIDENT, bullying, CANBERRA, distraction, GOVERNANCE, green infrastructure, health & well being, parks, planning, urban design, urban development, URBANITY, , ,

You can tell when residents are hitting the government where it hurts – when the press coverage from the government turns to spin – and more spin.  There is no doubt that this is a response to the successes the pesky residents of Downer have had in getting attention through their brilliant “Don’t Dump on Downer” grassroots campaign. Click here.

West Basin blatantly a property deal

A DICKSON RESIDENT, bullying, CANBERRA, cultural landscapes, GOVERNANCE, heritage, Landscape, open space, opinions, parks, planning, politics, trees, urban design, URBANITY, , ,

With the Christmas release of the draft City and Gateway Urban Design Framework, the ACT Government’s City Renewal Authority undertook media advocacy during February for an apartment suburb on West Basin. The ACT Government continues with its proposal for West Basin against the opposition of the Canberra community – click here.