News - Planning & development

It is time to challenge the 'Tiny Town' planning strategies for the Gungahlin Town Centre.

The Gungahlin Town Centre is suitable for a population of 32,000 people. It might even be suitable for a population of 50,000 but it is not suitable a population the size of Belconnen; and Gungahlin is planned to have more people than Belconnen. If you compare the current Gungahlin retail area to Belconnen, it is comparable to just the bottom floor of the Westfield Mall.

Gungahlin is planned to have a population of around 100,000 and it will need employment related accommodation proportional to Belconnen. Buildings the size of the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the Dept of Immigration and Citizenship, the Taxation Dept, the old ABS buildings, plus all other existing and future employment related development in Belconnen, should be built in Gungahlin - not at the airport or in Civic and Woden.

If the only land that is available for these facilities is the land that is currently zoned for retail and office development, Gungahlin will need a mall that is five stories tall and office accommodation of at least eight stories.

Planners have been aware of this problem for years and it appears that their strategy is to carry on regardless, until we have a situation where there is insufficient land to construct suitable retail and employment facilities. When this happens there will be a lot of 'finger pointing' but the Gungahlin community will be stuck with the problem.

The current consultation relating to the Territory Plan gives us an opportunity to reconsider planning in the Gungahlin Town Centre. It is time to challenge the planners to show us how they intend to provide Gungahlin with a Town Centre that has comparable facilities to other ACT Town Centres. With current development, it will be too late to make the necessary changes in two years time.

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