The ACT’s Greenslabor government is locked into practices of questionable governance and decision making and has lost the inability to engage honestly and effectively with resident groups.
Continue reading The mysterious case of the hastily removed Albert Hall trees
The National Capital Authority has responsibility for the care of the capital’s design features.
Houses of heritage value often cause problems for ACT Heritage Ministers and their planning chiefs.
Continue reading Fate of Forrest heritage house remains mystery
Recently, the North Canberra Community Council (NCCC) chair tried a creative way of engaging with local politicians. It worked.
This was to be the year the ACT government was to deliver the much-vaunted reforms to make planning simpler and more accessible.
Another mid-century home, designed by an honoured designer, gone!
Along with the wish the government would look after the city’s landscapes, its greenery and its open spaces, a common frustration is that the government does not understand design and does little to encourage good architecture.
Having been in government for four months, Rebecca Vassarotti, ACT Minister for the Environment and Heritage, should now have a firm view on heritage and comprehend that her role is about being a leader in the stewardship of Canberra’s environments.
The residents of Canberra love this city because of the trees. There are numerous occasions when people have had to rally to save our trees.
This piece is dedicated to those in community groups who forensically examine the complicated planning documents relentlessly put out by the ACT planning bureaucrats.
There’s a plaque in the Dickson Library that marks the site of Canberra’s first aerodrome.
In centuries past when a colonial power arrived somewhere foreign (to them), they presumed that they knew how to improve the local culture and commenced with handing around beads and trinkets.
The Singapore government of the ’70s, led by Lee Kuan Yew, was hell-bent on building a modern and prosperous city/state. It took a close relative to point out that if he wanted tourists to visit, then he needed to stop bulldozing the old stuff.
Continue reading The ACT Labor/Greens Government fails Canberra
The Yarralumla Residents Association (YRA) is 32 years old.
The association was formed because of the first proposals to redevelop the Brickworks site on the western edge of the suburb.
When confronted with the latest complex goings-on with the proposal for a huge apartment development alongside the Old Bus Depot Markets that will include the Kingston Arts Precinct, the Inner South Canberra Community Council (ISCCC) did a very sensible thing.
The suburb of Reid in Canberra is one of the oldest and residents accept that there are heritage values to be considered for most of the suburb. When a house was demolished and plans were approved by the ACT Government that paid token attention to these heritage values – residents were not happy. To make matters worse the ACT Heritage Council approved the development application. What were they thinking! Click here for my opinion piece on this in the City News.
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.
This a sad tale of people sitting on the fence while part of the heritage of the suburb of Downer is to be removed. Click here.
The ACT government’s decisions on trees are often contradictory and not in the context of long-term strategies for the bush capital. It continues to make a mess of the legacy it inherited.
There are so many stories around how the ACT Government handles significant trees and so many people who have had bad experiences because of the bureaucratic stupidity.
Click here for my piece in City News on this – these are just a few of those stories.
As with other cases like this, the ACT Government bureaucracy fails to see the logic and ignores the consequences of their stupidity. A site visit would inform anyone of the issues.
I have written about this in City News
I have a new piece on City News that goes part of the way to addressing the sad state of heritage under this ACT Government.
Have you taken a stroll around the Parliamentary Triangle recently?
Two things to consider: One is that heritage is about to be celebrated here in Canberra with a festival from 18 April till 7 May 2017.
Canberra has a population around 370,000 and consists of a seven residential districts with a total of over 110 suburbs. As with any other city, there are constant tensions about development and planning issues.
However the most publicised debates usually involve proposals to alter any part of the character of the central districts in and around the Parliamentary Triangle and Lake Burley Griffin. As soon any agency brings forth a proposal concerning these central areas, they are greeted by the usual suspects lining up to voice their opinions. Unfortunately these voices tend to be in opposition and the local press knows exactly who to ring to gather comments for articles that dump on such proposals often before they go out to consultations.