Page 2734 - Week 08 - Thursday, 24 August 2006
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tackle these truly difficult issues, issues that require real leadership and far-sighted action.
Right now those factors might not impact significantly on people’s lifestyles. But if we keep seeing local shops and schools downgraded or abandoned, while private car transport remains the prime consideration for our town planners and major residential developments avoid the challenge of minimising our ecological footprint, the Canberra of the future will turn out to be a city of the past and 2020 will find us with a failed urban infrastructure and a serious lack of community cohesion. We may find that we continue to add to the problems of the world rather than contribute to their resolution. The 2020 equivalent, not to be confused with the plan for schools, of the Costello report may well tell us we have to endure severe austerity measures in order to fund a public transport system that does not rely on fossil fuels and to fund new community centres where our schools used to be.
Canberra is primarily a two-industry town. One is the federal government that has its own interests in the future planning and development of Canberra. Its disdain for planning coordination and lack of commitment to the interests of the Canberra community are evident in its grab for cash from airport developments.
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER (Mr Gentleman): The member’s time has expired.
DR FOSKEY: Could I take an extra few minutes, please?
MR TEMPORARY DEPUTY SPEAKER: You can, Dr Foskey, an extra 10 minutes.
DR FOSKEY: With a bit of luck, the High Court challenge to the legality of massive developments which are outside state planning regimes will succeed. There is a lot of merit in their arguments, but I am not holding my breath. Until the balance of power changes in the Senate and is held by senators with an informed interest in an environmentally sustainable development, there is not much we can do about the federal government.
The other key industry appears to be development. We can see a volume of that going up in Canberra city. Mr Corbell has mentioned several times, including today, the thrill he gets from counting cranes rising above Civic. All sorts of creations are going up at the airport. The airport is answerable to no-one. The Griffin legacy development promises to deliver massive development along Constitution Avenue. There are new suburbs going in the north and south of Canberra, infilling Woden and from the lake to Fyshwick.
There seems to be, either in government or ACTPLA, a belief that developers pay the piper. I am concerned, however, that resulting developments do not necessarily serve communities’ best interest. The massive development of QIC in the city is a case in point. As I understand it, the government allowed an expansion of that development in order to accommodate a commonwealth department. Another expansion was to incorporate shopping bridges to link all the retail spaces, therefore focusing all the retail activity inside that development, with a flow-on impact in other parts of the city. It looks like we are ending up with one giant office and retail facility, with perhaps residential
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