Page 3030 - Week 10 - Friday, 8 October 2021
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integrate the development into existing historical, cultural and physical uses of the land. It is a real opportunity and we should not squander it.
We want to see well planned open spaces. We know that our newer suburbs struggle with urban heat island effect, and that is why our green spaces are so important. We do not want to repeat mistakes of the past or build in a way that does not suit a hotter Canberra with a changed climate, nor do we want to significantly impact on critical ecosystems with sprawling development.
We support higher densities with minimal overall footprints that allow for greater green space. This means that future building designs should incorporate a best-practice sustainable urban design approach and include commitments to principles including mitigating and adapting to climate change instead of contributing to it. We should think about this and we should include things like light-coloured roofs, roofing material that does not retain the heat, space for community microgrids and water storage.
We need to protect our environmental values. Preserving remnant mature trees is really important. Our hollow-bearing trees are important for preserving for birds and other animals and they are particularly important in our urban environments, because there are fewer mature trees and so they have to compete harder for the hollows that are there.
I am happy to see the design panel’s recommendation that this development should adapt to the existing landscape. This will make for a more undulating natural urban environment and it will prevent loss of topsoil and contamination of waterways. It is no longer acceptable to scrape and fill new blocks. That practice removes valuable topsoils and it leads to runoff in our waterways as well as to poorer suburban development.
As active travel spokesperson for the Greens, I agree that new developments like this need to integrate good active and public transport planning from the start so that people do not habituate to cars. We need to plan long-term for light rail. We need buses in the short term and a good network of pedestrian and cycle paths. With this in mind, we need safe crossing over big roads, like John Gorton Drive. Public and active transport need to be there at the beginning to make sure people do not move in and buy a car. Once they do that, we may have lost them to alternative transport for the next decade or more. We support building mobility hubs with green walls and active play spaces and not just concrete and tarmac car parks. People should take priority in our urban space, not cars.
Given the location of the Molonglo Valley commercial centre, we support the need for good, water-sensitive urban design. This will manage the potential adverse impacts of runoff on the ecological health of the Molonglo River corridor and it will retain existing retention ponds and support healthy soil and canopy trees.
There are a lot of good recommendations in here, and I am delighted to see the planners considering them. I am disappointed that development of the Molonglo Valley commercial centre will be pushed back to at least 2023-24. We need good,
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