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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (7 August) . . Page.. 2437 ..

Planning and Urban Services-Standing Committee

Report No 74

MR HIRD (11.19): Mr Speaker, I present the following report:

I move:

Mr Speaker, members will recall that on 6 December 2000 this house referred this matter to my committee. The Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Services has not supported a combined multi-unit and single-unit residential development proposal for the land adjacent to Athllon Drive in Mawson. Even though the land is already zoned residential, the parliament directed that the development proposal should be studied by my committee because of a number of concerns that had been expressed by local residents. The committee heard direct evidence in relation to these concerns at a number of public hearings. We also received 11 written submissions and had access to a further 93 submissions that had been received by PALM and forwarded to my committee.

The committee is concerned about the size, scale and impact of the proposed development in relation to the existing amenity of local residents, especially in the area south of Power Street, Mawson. Members do not feel that the proposal would blend in with other residences of different scales and with the local environment. Also, members are concerned about the traffic impact on local roads. Further, the access of residents to public transport would be awkward. Until the IPT corridor is operating-this is expected to come into operation some years ahead-residents would have had to rely on existing bus services in Mawson. There are no bus stops along this part of Athllon Drive adjacent to the proposed development. Anyway, the road would be difficult to cross for pedestrians. Use of public transport by residents of the proposed housing estate is problematic, to say the least.

The committee, as is its normal practice, meet on site with a number of residents and with you, Mr Cornwell, the local member, to ascertain the concerns of local residents. We appreciate the valuable time that those residents gave us on that occasion. On that note, I would like to thank those who made a contribution to this inquiry. It was extremely valuable to me and my colleagues.

On balance the committee considers that the proposed residential estate should not go ahead because it is relatively poorly served by public transport, it lacks good pedestrian and cycle connections to Woden, it creates further dense multi-unit development in an area already replete with this type of development, and it does not maintain the level of separation between different land uses which residents expect.

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