Page 2045 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014
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Residents voiced their concern in 2010 in relation to the size of the development. The government’s response was to reduce the size from approximately 60 hectares to 42 hectares but increase the density by almost 50 per cent to approximately 1,600. The remaining 18 hectares are still earmarked for future staged development. This is simply misleading on behalf of the ACT government.
Perhaps the last word, and by far the most authoritative comment on housing density, belongs to the chief executive of the National Capital Authority, Malcolm Snow, who recently told a parliamentary committee:
We have indicated some concern about the issue of building heights, particularly the encroachment of taller buildings onto things like Adelaide Avenue, which are specifically within the remit of the agency for protection in terms of amenity, as well as the approach to Government House, Dunrossil Drive, and about buildings that are above the tree line, which really then start to have an impact upon the broader landscape setting.
He went on to say:
Yarralumla is identified because of its particular tree coverage, and I think we are concerned that some of the heights that are being discussed might well be excessive.
That is the end of the quote from Malcolm Snow. Federal Labor MP Gai Brodtmann has also expressed concern about building heights. She said:
… the maximum height has gone from six storeys in the previous proposals to eight storeys in the current proposal without any explanation.
But the many queries and concerns over housing density and buildings heights pale into insignificance when you start to look at what is essentially a disaster in the making, traffic planning. The plan suggests that there will be improved access and better-managed traffic. It says traffic flow will be managed through minimising street connections into the existing suburb of Yarralumla.
A traffic and transport study undertaken by SMEC in 2013 recommended traffic improvements including extension of the Dunrossil Drive axis as a linear, tree-lined street and provision of a new formal approach and entry from Cotter Road to the Governor-General’s residence and to the brickworks. It talks about a future upgrade of Cotter Road between Yarralumla Creek and Tuggeranong Parkway being built. Proposed road duplication and a new interchange at the junction of Cotter Road and Adelaide Avenue will be required due to increasing traffic volumes associated with the new district of Molonglo.
That is about the only reference to the new suburbs yet to come. Suburbs such as Denman and Wright are already underway but the new roads to cater for all these new commuters are not, Mr Barr, and there is possibly a reason why they are not. If you read what Hill Thalis have said in their document, transport is a key principle but clearly not for anyone wanting to drive a car.
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