Page 180 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 8 December 2004
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being superior as public transport passes stationary car traffic. The Belconnen to Civic busway is the first of such transit corridors and will cut up to 15 minutes off the journey from the west Belconnen suburbs to the city. Within the town centre, the current bus interchange will be demolished and replaced by a series of four bus stations servicing shopping, community, recreational and educational facilities.
To encourage greater use of bicycles, the government will continue with its implementation of its $345,000 commitment to place front-mounted bike racks on trunk route services. This initiative will allow cyclists to cycle to the major interchanges and then transfer onto a bus for the remainder of their journey.
Turing to the spatial plan, Mr Speaker: this is the ACT’s key planning document for growth and development over the next 30 years. It will inform all new future planning and infrastructure decisions by the government. A key planning outcome of the spatial plan is the East Basin urban renewal project. The East Basin site is an extension of the Kingston Foreshore, which stretches to the Monaro Highway, adjoining the Jerrabomberra Wetlands. It offers the ACT an opportunity to undertake a world-leading project to demonstrate sustainable development on one of the largest urban renewal sites in Australia.
It is anticipated that this project will be a mixed-use development, building on the existing major facilities in east Fyshwick, including residential development as a logical extension of the Kingston Foreshore, incorporating the Fyshwick markets and the Canberra Institute of Technology campus. Initial planning studies of the site are about to commence, and stakeholder and community consultation will commence next year.
As with the Molonglo Valley, the East Basin represents a unique opportunity for the ACT to demonstrate more sustainable development. With the wetlands as the feature, buildings that are best practice in energy and water efficiency and development being based around public transport, East Basin can provide a residential environment that offers a green lifestyle choice.
The Molonglo Valley area, which is subject to further detailed assessment, has the potential to provide opportunities to undertake more sustainable development due to its proximity to existing services, roads, employment centres and options for water use and reuse. Once our investigations are complete in Molonglo, including community consultation, a variation to the territory plan, an amendment to the national capital plan, a preliminary assessment and an environmental impact statement will be prepared so that the Molonglo Valley plans can be incorporated into these formal planning documents
I’d like now to turn, Mr Speaker, to the issue of Canberra central. In question time today I was talking about the importance of revitalising the city, an issue identified both in the economic white paper and the spatial plan. Canberra central is the first comprehensive program developed to ensure that all the work and endeavour across the ACT government, the development and commercial sectors are coordinated to enhance the look, the feel and the experience of the city centre.
Under the guidance of a task force comprised of the heads of agencies from the ACT government and including the National Capital Authority, seven focus groups have been established. These groups are working simultaneously on the issues of improving access,
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