The Australian war Memorial is opening its Treloar Technology Centre to the public this coming weekend on Sunday from 10: till 3:00

Big things in store
Sunday 14 March 2010 10.00 am – 3.00 pm
Treloar Conservation and Storage Annex,
8 Callan Street, Mitchell ACT

Entry is by gold coin donation

Big Things in Store day is a rare opportunity to see inside the Memorial’s storage area of large technology items; the Mitchell Annex is only opened to the general public once or twice a year.

For the first time this year, visitors will be able to see the Memorial’s newest aircraft, Caribou A4-140, which flew into Canberra Airport in November 2009.

The aircraft’s fuselage will be on display. (The tailplane, fin, rudder, propellers, and wings have been removed for transport and storage.)

The Annex holds relics that represent Australia’s involvement in conflict, including: De Havilland Tiger Moth 25-pounder field guns First World War Leyland truck Second World War DAP Beaufort bomber V2 rocket on its original trailer Two Centurion tanks from Vietnam "Bushmaster" Infantry Mobility Vehicle used in East Timor

Big Things in Store offers you a chance to get a rare glimpse inside the only Mk IV “Female tank in Australia, because its sponson has been removed for the purposes of conservation and research.

You will be able to purchase a barbecue lunch and refreshments on the day.

Closed, flat footwear is recommended. Please bring your camera, but no large bags, tripods, or monopods.

The Australian Sports Commission and the Office for Women have joined together to help develop the next generation of female leaders in sport.

Inspiring and assisting women in the sport industry to reach their full potential in leadership through education and development opportunities.

Are you involved in sport as a manager, administrator, coach or official, or do you work in sport communications/media or governance?

Would you like to learn more, and do more, for yourself and your sport?  If so, we encourage you to apply.
Substantial organisation and individual funding is available:
- up to $5000 grants for individuals
- up to $10 000 grants for incorporated organisations
- up to $30 000 (over three years) with the Sport Leadership Pathway Scholarship.

Women from all areas and levels of the Australian sporting community are welcome to apply, including women from culturally diverse backgrounds, Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander women, women from rural and regional areas, and women with disability.

Applications are open now until Friday 30 April 2010.  Terms and conditions apply.

For more information, visit ausport.gov.au/women
or call 1800 224 412

At a recent 2020 Planning Forum in Canberra, ACT Liberal Opposition
Leader Zed Seselja said: “I believe that a bigger Canberra is a good
thing.”

He described a number of reasons why he believes this. Not mentioned
however was how the ACT Government - any ACT Government - could afford
the costs of the extra infrastructure a big population spike would
require. And recent budget troubles are making it obvious the ACT is
already economically unsustainable.

Opposing this line was Mark O’Connor, author of "This Tired Brown
Land" – a book at the vanguard of the argument that population growth
is pivotal to all social and environmental degradation we are
suffering and our children will suffer into the future.

Other speakers at the forum appeared to dance around the population
issue. It begs the question why?

In one of those curious little coincidences in life, this was
summarised quite well just days later in a piece by Melvin Bolton on
Science Alert (http://www.sciencealert.com.au/opinions/20102202-20637.html).

“A lot of people make money out of population growth so in their view
the more consumers the better and the more pressure on land the
greater the rise in its value. That’s the simple reality, but it has
an emotive component that is less obvious. Somehow, the promoters of
population growth have fostered the idea, deep in the human psyche,
that they hold the moral high ground; that nice people can only ever
want more people. Those who disagree are suspect. They must hate
motherhood, or migrants, or both, and are probably closet racists.

“Politicians loathe being asked about population policy. Green NGOs
keep it off their manifestos for fear of losing support. Public
figures in conversation quickly change the subject.”

Kevin Rudd recently announced projections that Australia’s population
would swell to 36 million by 2050 – just 40 years! To align with this,
ACTPLA is planning for a 60% population increase in Canberra in the
same timeframe.

I regularly hear people describe Gungahlin as a planning disaster.
Anyone in Canberra who thinks Gungahlin is a once-off, and everything
from here on will be peachy, is kidding themselves. And the older
established areas won’t be immune to the effects either. Neither will
the next generation, who won’t be able to afford any home that
includes the ‘luxury’ of an actual back yard - thanks to the pressure
of population growth.

Giving Mr Bolton the last word: “All this plays back into the hands of
the population profiteers. Misinformation is easy to maintain when
those who know better prefer to keep quiet."

The Land Development Agency (LDA) received an application from Hu Guo Bao En Temple of Australia Inc for the direct sale of Block 19 Section 73 (formerly Block 11 Section 73) Nicholls.

Hu Guo Bao is a Buddhist organisation, which proposes to construct a temple development that will include a temple, landscaped gardens and ancillary residential quarters for the monks who will stay on site.

As it is now ACT Government policy to consult the community on all direct land sales, a community information session will be held for the residents of Nicholls and surrounding area to inform them about the proposal as well as the practices of the Buddhist faith.

The drop-in information session will be held at the Gold Creek School, Kelleway Street, Nicholls, on Wednesday 10 March 2010, between 4.30pm - 7.00pm.

We at the Gungahlin Community Council are quite simply amazed at the contempt being shown by Planning Minister Andrew Barr towards local residents seeking to have a planned road extension moved away from their homes.

The extension of Well Station Drive to Horse Park Drive will put a four-lane road carrying some 20,000 cars a day just 20 metres from their quiet residential back street. 

Andrew Barr also intends defying a direction by the ACT Legislative Assembly to realign the road, with his office saying "we have no sense of any political will to pursue this issue".

The residents are understandably upset at the implication that only 'squeaky wheels' warrant Andrew Barr's attention. GCC has asked repeatedly for substantiation of costs quoted to us by the Minister's office that this minor deviation would almost double the cost of the entire project.

With the return to school, a brand new school already bulging at the seams is clear evidence of a lack of planning by the ACT Education Department. Although only two years old, the Harrison School already has demountables installed to cope with an influx of new students. Plus Years 5 and 6 will be using the library as their classroom for months.

Surely when the Chief Minister's Department ramped up release of new blocks of land for sale two years ago, the Education Department was also revising their population projections and school needs? It seems that the departments don't talk to each other, and the Education Department planners don't read newspapers either…

The solution is simple-use the existing community zoned land in Franklin to build a Preschool to Year 4 school plus co-located Early Learning Centre-and do it quickly.

GCC is getting complaints about the regular piles of dumped rubbish around the charity bins in the Gungahlin town centre. Much of what is being left is unsaleable rubbish and it is costing the charities a bomb to keep cleaning it up. Some people are saying the bins should be removed, and we are inclined to agree. What do you think?

The holiday period brought with it another surge in either unthinking or just plain disgraceful behaviour from many residents dumping unwanted goods around overflowing charity bins and around charity premises.

The mess around the collection of bins near the Gungahlin Woolworths triggered particular criticism from some GCC Facebook fans. Pete Jordan has called for the bins to be removed. “It must cost the charities involved more than it is worth,” he said. He also pointed out that Salvos and Lifeline both have storefronts in Mitchell, and Vinnies is just up the road in Hibberson Street. Lina Blair accused people of just dumping, and echoed the call for the bins to go.

Flemington Road progress 

Since early 2008, Gungahlin Community Council has lobbied to ensure that Flemington Road does not become another ugly “townhouse tunnel” as was proposed in ACTPLA’s plans for the corridor. Smart use of higher densities along Flemington will also create demand for a reliable public transport solution like light rail. After numerous meetings with the LDA and even a bus trip looking at good and bad developments, our efforts are finally bearing some fruit, but with mixed results. 

We’ve met with the developers of the first two blocks released between Nullarbor Avenue and Well Station Drive. One is quite close to what we have proposed: 3 and 4-storey apartment buildings over basement parking, a permeable site, variable and attractive streetscapes to all sides, on-site communal open space, and attention to passive solar design. The second proposal presents an attractive façade to Flemington Road, but is otherwise disappointing. A traditional townhouse layout wastes space on laneways and excessive open-air surface parking, and zero communal open space, showing a lack of imagination or confidence in the market, and poor design. 

We warned the LDA that if they included such a “low bar” option in the estate plans there would be a high risk of something being built that way, and our fears are now being realised. We can only hope that seeing the plans for the first development might encourage a rethink from this second developer. 

Hazards of on-road cycle lanes 

Renowned Danish architect Jan Gehl was in Canberra last week and spoke (among other things) on the success of converting Copenhagen to a city of cycling commuters. He mused about our on-road cycle lanes: "In Denmark we put the parked cars inside the bike lanes to protect cyclists from the traffic. In Australia you put the bike lanes on the inside so the cyclists protect the parked cars." 

Canberra planners have an obsession with on-road cycle lanes. So we were surprised when Roads ACT recently told us the number of cyclists hit by cars is very low. However, research by ANU road trauma expert Drew Richardson now reveals that 98% of cycling injuries are not showing up in official statistics. This underlines our long-held belief that ACT needs to focus on safe cycling if it is to encourage mainstream users onto bikes and out of cars. Instead cyclists need more off-road paths and segregated lanes. 

(As first published on the RiotACT)

Many of you in the North of Canberra are acutely aware of the ongoing Internet performance issues being experienced by residents the of Gungahlin, parts of Kaleen and even Watson.

If you have ever wondered why the Internet at your place never seem to work as well as your friend in Hackett, or Monash? This site may be able to help explain why.

It had always annoyed me that the Internet became almost unusable around 8:00pm each night and why no one seemed to want to fix it. I raised tickets with my ISP and received the same response each time.

Our Wholesale Provider has reported a congestion fault with your service, there is no ETA on its resolution at this time.

After months and months of heartache my apathy finally gave way to action. Much to my wife’s dismay I started a campaign to try and resolve the issue.

I have spent the greater part of the last month compiling data and researching the issue of poor Internet performance in Gungahlin. All of what I have found out I have published on a website www.actbroadband.net

Self promotion aside, I have managed to document the problem as well as my attempts to address the issue. I have set up monitoring of Internode infrastructure and generated a number of months worth of performance reports. I have also published all the correspondence I have had with my ISP and will have with Territory Legislative Assembly Members and Federal Members of Parliament.

I have prepared letters to all Legislative Assembly Representatives for Molonglo - posted on my site, as all the responses as I receive them.

If you at the level of frustrations as I am with the whole Internet thing, please contact me through the site. I am happy to hear from fellow Gungahlin residents who are having the same experience as I am. Numerous people have already contacted me with their support after visiting the site.

It is my intention to keep this an issue until it is resolved. There are 38,000 residents in the Gungahlin area, the majority of which are suffering as I am. Any support in this endeavour will be greatly appreciated.

___________________________________________________________________

Alan Kerlin: ABC Radio 666's Genevieve Jacobs picked up this issue and interviewed Russell, myself, David Forman from the Competitive Carrier’s Coalition, and Chris Taylor, Managing Director for Telstra Country Wide ACT. You can listen to the interviews here, with thanks to the ABC for covering this important issue for us.

ABC 666 Radio Gungahlin Broadband interviews 30 September 2009

The ACT Government's 2010 Sport and Recreation Grants Program is open for applications.

Grants can assist eligible organisations to support participation in active lifestyles through the delivery of quality programs, services and facilities for the benefit of the Canberra community.

Applications close on Friday  9 October 2009 (5pm).

Applications for funding are submitted online at http://www.tams.act.gov.au/play/sport_and_recreation/funding in the following categories:

• Operational Assistance (Annual);
• Community Sport and Recreation Development Assistance; and
• Capital Assistance

Organisations interested in applying and who require further information should contact David Maloney, Grants Officer, Sport and Recreation Services on 6207 2055 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Talk and Taste Test with Rachel Bermingham, author of the "4 Ingredients" cook book

Friday 2 October
10.30am - 11.15am
Gungahlin Library

Join Rachel at Gungahlin Library to hear her speak about the inception, launch and success of her books, and to taste some of the delicious creations that can be made using her cook books.

Rachel Bermingham is co-author of the bestselling 4 Ingredients series of cook books, and the author of Read My Lips and How to Write A Book and Make It A Bestseller.

A motivational speaker, business woman and a mum, she has over twenty years combined experience in development, business, time managementand goal strategising.

Rachel wrote her first book while feeding her new born son, her second book during his day sleeps, the third when he went to bed, and the fourth in between everything else!

The 4 Ingredients cook book was co-authored with Rachel's best friend Kim and has sold more than 1.5 million copies.

Bookings online www.library.act.gov.au or by phone on 6205 9000

You’re invited to meet ACT Government Ministers as part of the new Cabinet in the Community initiative.

This is a great opportunity to hear about new initiatives in Gungahlin and to meet informally with Ministers over morning tea.

Date: Saturday 22 August (10:30am to 12:00pm)

Venue: Harrison School Library, Wimmera Street, Harrison.

Through Cabinet in the Community the ACT Government is continuing its commitment to outline its vision for the city’s future and to listen to community views and suggestions.

For more information, please phone Canberra Connect on 13 22 81 or email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

On Monday 20 July 2009 a public information drop in session will be held regarding the proposed direct sale of Block 17 Section 73 Nicholls to the Canberra Muslim Community (CMC) for the development of a place of worship.

This public information drop in session is being held jointly between the CMC and the Land Development Agency.

Location: Palmerston Community Centre, Tiptree Cres, Palmerston (adjacent to the Palmerston shops)
Date: Monday 20th July 2009
Time: 3pm - 7pm
For further information please contact Kerry Browning in (02) 6205 0600.

Further background information:

The Monster That Ate Canberra is a childrens book written by Michael Salmon in 1972 and became a favorite of many Canberrans ever since.

Now thanks to the hard work of Shawn Cahill you can read the book via Google Earth and explore the locations of the monuments that Alexander Bunyip munched on in the book.

The Google Earth files can be found here.

The Gungahlin Community Council with the support of Michael Salmon are currently lobbying the ACT Government to include a statue of the Bunyip as part of the new Gungahlin library.