Page 3458 - Week 11 - Wednesday, 22 October 2014
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people-friendly public spaces in and around our centres. Master plans also recommend changes to land use zones to respond to changing community needs, foster redevelopment and provide opportunities for economic growth and change.
Master plans ensure that diverse community needs and concerns for our existing centres are understood and reflected in planning decisions, especially the needs of vulnerable members of our community such as elderly people, people with disabilities, young people and households on low or no incomes.
Close discussions with the community promoted throughout the master planning fosters a better understanding and awareness of place-specific needs for Canberra to be a city where everybody can take advantage of its network of centres, open spaces and modes of travel to enjoy a sense of wellbeing and participate in a vibrant civic and cultural life.
While master plans do not contain detailed design, they set about a process that defines what is important about a place and how its character and quality can be conserved, improved and enhanced.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Mr Hanson.
MR HANSON: Minister, could you give us an update on the status of the Weston Creek group centre master plan?
MR GENTLEMAN: I thank Mr Hanson for his question. I do not have that in my notes for Weston, but I can come back to you with that later on.
MADAM SPEAKER: A supplementary question, Dr Bourke.
DR BOURKE: Minister, what are some of the things that have been achieved through master planning in the last decade?
MR GENTLEMAN: The Tuggeranong town centre master plan was released in September 2012. The vision of the town centre is Canberra’s urban gateway to the mountains, which offers a unique lifestyle with easy access to open spaces and waterways. The Tuggeranong town centre master plan recognised that the town centre was struggling economically. It recommends increasing building heights for much of the centre to attract and encourage redevelopment. Previously heights were generally limited to four storeys across the centre and now may range to a height from four to 12 storeys in the current master plan. The recommended building height takes into account consideration for the surrounding landscape and protects the views of the Brindabella Ranges.
The Tuggeranong town centre master plan recommends improving spaces for people by requiring new buildings to address streets to increase activity and interaction, ensuring new residential development overlooks public spaces to increase surveillance and safety at night, requiring very large blocks to provide mid-block pedestrian links as they redevelop for permeability, and requiring all new development by the lake to address the lake as an important asset to the area.
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