Page 1582 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 12 August 1992
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
While Mr Stevenson focused on the technicalities, the construction side of it, there is an equally important side, and that is design. The designs of houses that have been built in Canberra are simply not good enough. I should make it very clear that some of our designs are amongst the best in Australia, and we have some Australian, if not world, leaders in design operating in this town. I have presented awards for the Master Builders Association, and the Department of the Environment, Land and Planning has sponsored awards for good design. But the leaders are too few, and those who are building inadequately designed homes are too great in number.
To use a well-used cliche these days, there are too many north facing double garages. I am sure Mr Kaine does not have that problem in his new location. It seems that too many builders simply disregard the sun. In this city, which is one of the coldest in Australia but which also has more sunlight than most cities, it seems that we have not put those two factors together to use the benefits of the sun to diminish the problems created by the cold. When I recently drove around Lake Tuggeranong this fact was driven home very strongly to me. Particularly on the far side of the lake it is evident that the designs take no account of the sun. Just as surprisingly, they do not seem to take any account of the lake. It is as though neither the sun nor the lake existed. I find that surprising. We have to take steps to change that, difficult as it may be. I have in mind - I am sure we all do - that the new town area of Gungahlin will have new concepts in building. I have often said that no longer should we have this disregard for sun, but I am afraid that it seems that we need a considerable lead time before we can be sure that the design in Gungahlin is appropriate.
There is an additional problem attached to this, and that is the medium density housing that we are building - so much of it, but not the entirety. Medium density living is now very popular with Canberrans; a very large percentage of our people opt for it. Yet so much of the medium density building design is unsatisfactory. To start with, it is ugly. It does not look good; it does not sit into the environment well, and certainly it does not take the sun into account, as I have indicated. Some of the new medium density units that I have seen are appalling, and I say with some regret that I appear to be making no ground in convincing a great number of builders to change their styles.
I may have the same problem as Mr Crowe of the HIA with respect to informing his builders about the technical requirements. There seems to be a communication gap here. While he is interested in informing them as to the technical requirements, I am interested in telling them about the design requirements. They are simply not aware of that. I emphasise that these are not statutory requirements that I am talking about. These buildings that I am criticising have all been approved under existing design and siting guidelines, and they have been approved by the Building Controller. I am talking with the Chief Territory Planner about whether we can change design and siting, and maybe we can do something about better design. This inadequate building follows all the requirements, and they are setting their own standards, which was a point that Mr De Domenico made about other matters.
I am not getting the message through. They simply have to understand that what has been satisfactory in the Territory for a number of years is no longer the case. In the end it is the home buyer who is missing out, who is getting a house that is less than adequate. I think the problem became considerably worse when the Federal Government changed the system of land development in the ACT. There
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .