Page 3816 - Week 10 - Thursday, 27 August 2009
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we should make it worse. That is what we are being asked to vote on here. They may not have got other parts of it right in terms of density, but what Ms Le Couteur is asking us to do is support the proposition that we should simply reject the 10-storey tower and only have six storeys.
I reject that logic. Unfortunately, it is something that we see often. The Greens claim that they are in favour of sustainable transport, that they want to see high density living, but when it comes to it, when it comes to a decision here as to whether or not we support this particular 10-storey development, there is always a reason not to support a particular development.
You need to look at your overall principles. Should there be greater density around town centres? Yes, there should be. Is voting for this going to help greater density around Woden? No, it is not. It is going to reduce density and see fewer people living there. It might not be a massive number we are talking about to go from 10 to six storeys, but we will see this play out time and time again. We need to make some decisions.
Ms Le Couteur said: are four or five storeys the better path? Well, if we go four or five storeys as the preferred way of achieving density, I would put it to you that what we will have is four or five storeys spread out over far greater distances. We will see it encroach into the suburbs more often. We will see more of these problems and disputes where people who live in quiet suburban Canberra, in culs-de-sac and other places, see these types of developments which are inappropriate in those areas being foisted upon them.
I would say to Ms Le Couteur and the Greens that the far better course is to go for serious density in the town centres, first and foremost absolutely at places like Woden. I suppose 10 storeys is not high rise but it is on the edge of the town centre. We have seen Sky Plaza. We should see more people living there at Woden. We should see thousands more people over the years living in places like Woden, Belconnen, Civic, Tuggeranong and, indeed, Gungahlin.
This is the way to achieve the goals of sustainable population growth. This is the way to achieve sustainable transport. This is the way to grow our city. This is the way to ensure Canberra grows and develops. I want Canberra to grow. I am in the category of people who are pro-growth. I do not want to see Canberra go backwards in population. I do not want to see it stagnate in population.”
I think if we stagnate in our population we will actually see a greater burden placed on the working population in Canberra paying for an ageing population. I think that the best way to grow our economy is to sustainably grow our population, and we need to have a plan to do that.
What we also want to see, though, is that the character of Canberra is preserved. One of the wonderful things about Canberra is its garden city nature, the way it was designed initially and the way that it has evolved. I do not want to see that compromised. As we see the city grow, we will see pressure points emerge, and unless we are prepared to make decisions to seriously increase density around our town centres then the pressures will emerge in the suburbs.
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