Page 544 - Week 02 - Thursday, 21 February 1991
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Let us move on, Mr Speaker, to the arguments for and against the permanent retention of the billboard on that particular site. One of the key issues that we have to consider is the actual site itself. I think this was raised, quite clearly, by the National Capital Planning Authority, and the Interim Territory Planning Authority commented on that, as did the National Trust of Australia. I think the importance of City Hill and its location was identified as part of the Griffin plan. It was identified as:
. the northern corner of the Parliamentary Triangle
. the focus for the Northbourne Avenue approach into Canberra
. the focus of the other City Avenues of Ainslie Avenue, Edinburgh Avenue and University Avenue.
That site has been a focus and, in some respects, that is the reason why the location was chosen in the first place for the erection of the initial structure.
Mr Speaker, for example, in its arguments to the committee the National Trust said that the billboard had:
... compromised the landscape, integrity, purpose and aesthetic value of City Hill in the following ways:
. Visual interruption of City Hill from Northbourne Avenue
. Visual intrusion of Northbourne Avenue from apex of City Hill
. Intrusion into landscape setting
. Intrusion into symmetrical layout of City Hill
. An introduced element of no historical significance to the original design.
This was, generally, the theme of those who argued against the retention of the billboard. I think that basically their concern was the fact that it appeared to have become a permanent structure.
The arguments in favour of the retention of the billboard were only 10 out of a total of 51 submissions. The common element of the submissions in favour was the view that basically it livened up the Canberra landscape. The ACT Tourism Commission indicated that it had used it as part of its marketing strategy. The Royal National Capital Agricultural Society, who have a display on the billboard at the moment, also argued for its retention, as did the police, who had used it successfully, they claimed, during a program to encourage people to be more aware of crime prevention.
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