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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 12 Hansard (6 December) . . Page.. 3730 ..

MS TUCKER (continuing):

structure of decentralised towns and the environmental and recreational value of open space.

What we have concluded is that urban renewal projects involving higher density housing should be focused in and around the existing commercial centres where there are already high levels of services and infrastructure and less of a need to use cars for transport. In applying these principles to the Athllon Drive proposal, we believe that the government has clearly failed to justify why this land should be developed for housing. As with its other recent infill proposals, the government has appeared to have just gone over the map, picked out areas that seemed unused, worked out how many houses could be squeezed onto the land, and only then attempted a tokenistic public consultation process to meet the minimum legislative requirements.

While it is true that this land was rezoned for residential use in 1993, I do not put much value on this fact. This rezoning was done as part of the introduction of the Territory Plan across Canberra to replace the old NCDC policies. It was a very complicated project and many changes to zonings that occurred in the translation of the NCDC policies into the format of the Territory Plan escaped full public scrutiny.

In looking at the history of this land it is clear that it has an ongoing role as a road corridor and buffer zone. I understand it is part of the original road corridor that was set aside back in the 1960s to link Yarra Glen to the then proposed new town of Tuggeranong. Its width mirrored the wide road corridor between Pearce and Curtin and it included a creek line. While later planning decisions removed part of this road corridor beside the Woden Town Centre from the end of Athllon Drive to the Yarra Glen roundabout, Athllon Drive will continue to be the major transport route through Woden.

The road reserve also includes a public transport corridor and it may be possible that extra bus lanes or even a light rail system could be built next to Athllon Drive in the future. There is also the ongoing need to accommodate the floodway. I therefore think it would be short - sighted to develop this land when it is needed as a buffer for a possibly widened Athllon Drive or a public transport corridor. Any houses built there would be of low quality as they would be crammed up against Athllon Drive and be prone to flooding.

Given that no link to Athllon Drive is proposed, the traffic coming out of the development heading south would also be channelled into Hurley Street, which was not designed as a through road. If the government wishes to change the land use of any land within the existing suburbs, and regardless of what the Territory Plan says, I would regard this proposal as a change in land use from road corridor and floodway to residential use.

The government should first do a comprehensive case - by - case assessment to determine the most appropriate land use designation. This assessment should look at the need for the land use change, the capability of the land for development and the impact of any development on the environment and on the amenity of existing residents in the vicinity. Such assessment should really start with a blank sheet rather than with a pre - conceived notion of what the land should be used for. Given the interests and on - the - ground knowledge of local residents, it is important for such studies to be done in an interactive way with residents.

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