National Capital Authority: role in Canberra

The ACT is unusual as territories and states go, We have the ACT Legislative Assembly but the National Capital Authority too. A large area of the ACT is under a form of collaborative administration. Famously, the ACT Territory Plan cannot be inconsistent with the National Capital Plan (NCP). This does not make the interests of the ACT Government and NCA the same but necessitates a complex and close relationship.

History of Lawson 2003-2022

Belconnen District is more than 40 years old, but some parts were left green for later development. One of them is the new suburb of Lawson, which is situated beside Lake Ginninderra and has until now remained untouched. The suburb development started with Stage 1, opposite the University of Canberra (UC), and now has moved down Ginninderra Drive with the tender for Stage 2.

18 years later and still not built!

We must remain sceptical of consultations. The consultation for (ACT) Ten Year Master Plan Trunk Cycling and Walking Path Infrastructure 2004, shows us that the recommendations have still not be implemented 18 years later. The process in 2004 has an eerie familiarity to the 2021 District Planning consultations.

Many pieces moving but few immediate gains

If you are riding on a bumpy bike path, you would hope the bumps would be fixed in a few months or one or two years at the most. The politicians and government officials that make up our government will tell you to be patient, and they are working on it, but we have a discrepancy in the time frame. Cycle infrastructure projects in the ACT take 6-8 years to complete – two legislative terms.

Planning Bill feedback: taking responsibility for public space

We wish to focus on one issue, the very nature of the ACT Territory Plan to see everything as blocks as seen in ACTmapi. It is clear that a lease requires a geographical area of a block to be bounded. Each block will have zoning and otherwise a list of permitted and forbidden conditions. The building codes and general codes also apply. But a block is still just a block.

2022 Molonglo Group Centre Concept Plan

Does the ACT Government really believe that the average person is keen to cycle on the road along John Gorton Drive? Today saw the release of the Molonglo Group Centre Concept Plan, which will set this concept into stone. The road designs of John Gorton Drive and Flemington Road are very similar, and experience shows that they do not work for cyclists.

Molonglo Valley Active Travel Masterplan

The Molonglo Valley Active Travel Masterplan was awarded to SMEC Australia by the Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate (EPSDD) – known to most as ACT Planning. canberra.bike established by FOI back in 2021 that Molonglo Valley Active Travel Masterplan did not exist back then.

The urgent case for cycle corridors

When we walk the halls of Planning, Transport and Legislative Assembly in the ACT today, we can be sure that none of those people we see will be there in 30 years. Community groups and councils lobby with MLAs and mandarins, who temporarily fill the roles. Building a cycle network is a long term task, requiring forward-thinking past the current political cycle. The cycle network will take 30 years to build. In that time, Canberra’s population will almost double. City builders think in decades and not years. Cycle corridors reserve the space to build that cycle network.

Molonglo 3 East: topography

The topography of Molonglo 3 East demands a reframing of the way planning is done in the ACT. Best practices that apply to the Molonglo valley are not support by the Estate Development Code, Single and Multi-Unit Housing Development Codes and the zoning codes in the Territory Plan. Molonglo 3 East is something new and exciting that will push ACT planing towards an outcomes planning mechanism.

Section 8: Cycle Corridors

Cycle corridors are the mechanism by which strategic assets (public realm space) can be secured for good, fast cycling infrastructure between town centres for commuting cyclists, thus providing an alternative to driving. The cycle highways will not be finished quickly and they do not have to be. However, they will never be built unless the corridors are reserved and preserved.