Page 1298 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 11 May 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
build them everywhere. That is why we need to take this situation seriously and engage with our communities about what that actually means.
I want to just quickly talk on the four blocks listed in this motion. I asked the SLA last week to meet with the Gungahlin Community Council, and I met with that group myself. We heard their concerns and we listened very carefully to what they had to tell us. It was a productive discussion and the SLA was able to give more information about how the land to be released would deliver better outcomes for Gungahlin.
To address the concerns of best practice, mixed-use development, the sites will require mandatory referral to the National Capital Design Review Panel as a step in the process of supporting best practice, mixed-use development. The sales conditions for the four sites include a condition of mandatory referral to the National Capital Design Review Panel. The national review panel has developed a set of design principles for projects to be assessed against. The design principles for the ACT have been benchmarked against best practice from design review panel documentation across Australia and New Zealand. These features of the SLA’s land sale will promote best practice, mixed-use development in the Gungahlin town centre.
The Suburban Land Agency and I have offered the opportunity to work with the Gungahlin Community Council on the place planning of the future land releases in Gungahlin town centre, including engagement on how the sale of the future blocks are brought to the market, the provision of open space and interface with the linear park area, as well as future public realm to provide opportunity and to give direction to future developers and address community needs and commercial options available on future sites. A significant number of sites remain scheduled for future release in the Gungahlin town centre which are in locations that lend themselves to positive commercial outcomes.
During these meetings I also heard from the council about their opposition to all new residential development in the Gungahlin town centre, but the reality is that we need to build more of this housing, we need to build more homes and, as I said before, we need to do them now. These homes have to be built somewhere. People have to have the options to live, whether they are affordable homes, affordable rentals, public housing or homes. Every person, regardless of their background or where they come from, should have the opportunity to have a place to call home.
I am proud to say that making sure that our most vulnerable neighbours have a safe place to live has been and will continue to be my top priority because, as I said, everybody deserves a place to live in our community.
MS CASTLEY (Yerrabi) (4.11): My response to this motion on behalf of the Canberra Liberals is simple. What we see here is yet another example of government neglect, Labor-Greens government neglect of Canberra’s fastest growing region, Gungahlin. It is an area of mostly young, energetic and ambitious Canberrans; yet an area that has been described as a dormitory town, even a ghost town, as residents flee as early as they can each morning to avoid traffic chaos and dart in various directions to their places of work.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video