Page 3459 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 25 November 1992
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development and refurbishment of the area. Matters to be considered include street furniture, pavings and the lighting of public areas. The study also includes the site of the existing police booth in City Walk and what should happen to that. It is prompted in part by the likely development of the BMI Building and the removal of the electrical substation in the defunct toilet block. There will be some consideration of that building and of the adjacent chess pit.
Public safety is essentially a social issue, but I believe that physical planning measures do contribute to a safe environment in Civic by day and night. The environment is critical to the way people behave. We are pleased that the architects who designed the new Parliament House and who have done other work for us - Mitchell Giurgola and Thorp - have been selected to make the study. They have an international reputation for the quality of their urban design, and I think we are fortunate to have access to their expertise.
I am particularly pleased that, consistent with government policy, they will start the study by consulting the community. This will ensure that the study has a starting point before assumptions are established, rather than there being a public information process after principles have become entrenched. I particularly mention that Ms Pamille Berg, a specialist in city planning and urban design with an emphasis on integrating public participation and public art, is a member of the study team. She is chair of the Visual Arts/Craft Board of the Australia Council. She will give us very excellent advice.
One of the central themes of the study will be to look at community art and how it and the craft of local artists can be incorporated in the Garema Place development. The first round of consultations is about to take place and there will be more next year. I am confident that that sort of approach will give us a design and recommendations that reflect user, community and business ideas to ensure that this really is the hub of civic life. This was part of the debate on the public behaviours committee when the design of the Woden Bus Interchange led to problems in that area.
Mr Connolly: We are fixing that.
MR WOOD: You fixed that and I have not heard anything about problems out there in the last couple of years. I think Garema Place presents a bit of a problem. It has both advantages and disadvantages. It is a plaza. No vehicles pass through it, and that is great; but it also means that there is no traffic flowing past it and - - -
Mr Kaine: It needs people living in it.
MR WOOD: We do need people living in it. I will expand on that. Thank you for the prompt. It means that there are no cars passing by, and what is actually happening within that square is sometimes less than obvious. Mr Kaine, if we can encourage more housing around Civic we will do so. We have recently announced changes to what will happen on the Travelodge site. I have had people suggest to me that we could put something over Garema Place. I am not sure whether that is a proposal that people would accept. It is no more than an off-the-cuff suggestion at this stage, but if proposals for residential development right on the fringe of Civic in appropriate places were to proceed - and they would have to be very carefully done - I am sure that they too would be of benefit to this important area.
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