Planning and development news
Written by Des Hoare Monday, 23 April 2007 10:00
When will the "proposed" Amaroo Shopping complex become a reality?
Amaroo was commenced some 14 years ago and there is still no sign of the complex being built.
We were promised a "Service station before Christmas 2006" the latest on this is that it may be several months, if not longer, before it is operating.
Is the shopping complex the same as the service station only years instead of months?
GCC UPDATE:
We have received a reply from Minster Andrew Barr to Des' query, as follows:
Written by Alan Kerlin - GCC President Monday, 16 April 2007 10:00
The days immediately following our April meeting were tumultuous for the ACT Government, with Simon Corbell losing the Planning portfolio to Andrew Barr, Transport Planning going to join Transport delivery under John Hargreaves, and Environment and the LDA going to Jon Stanhope.
The Chief Minister also announced their packages of ideas to address the housing affordability situation.
But tucked away at the bottom of this article was the following comment from Andrew Barr on taking over planning:
"Affordable housing and planning, and services issues for Gungahlin would be his priorities."
This is great to see that we have gotten the Gungahlin plaaning issues sufficiently on the agenda such that the first statement the new Planning Minister makes acknowledges there is work that needs to be done here. It was backed up by a similar comment from the Minister a couple of days later.
Written by Alan Kerlin Wednesday, 11 April 2007 17:00
Gungahlin residents have had a chance to voice their concerns over planning and infrastructure in their community.
More than 50 people filled a community centre in Gungahlin last night to thrash out major issues with the ACT Government and the Land Development Agency.
Some members wanted the Government to take responsibility for what they regard as poor planning.
Written by Alan Kerlin - GCC President Wednesday, 11 April 2007 10:00
The Canberra Times reported prior to our April meeting about the concerns we were going to be discussing with Ministers Hargreaves and Corbell. Again (third time now) the response from Minister Corbell was that we had to get a population critical mass. 30,000 not enough? When I was in the Maroochy Council my electorate included a town of just 10,000 that had far more in the way of community infrastructure.
I also had pre-meeting interviews with 666 ABC radio, two other radio stations, and Win TV.
Written by Alan Kerlin Tuesday, 10 April 2007 17:00
The ACT Planning Minister Simon Corbell has conceded there are still major infrastructure problems in Gungahlin.
15 years after development in the satellite town centre began, residents and community groups say there aren't adequate roads, shops and petrol stations.
Written by Ian Ruecroft Tuesday, 10 April 2007 10:00
The development of the Gold Creek Homestead site has been an issue that has been debated in many forums over the past seven years. There have been a number of working groups (set up by the community and government) that have considered proposals and drawn up plans in an effort to find a suitable use for the land and the homestead.
Written by Alan Kerlin Wednesday, 04 April 2007 20:00
Written by Ian Ruecroft Monday, 12 March 2007 10:00
On page 2 of Gunsmoke 16 (16th February 1996) the article states:
âThe GCC continues to have the development of the Town Centre high on its agenda. We trust that that the Community representatives will continue to be part of the ongoing discussions. What is of concern is that there has been no thought or support from ministers in the ACT Government to ensure that the Town Centre will be economically viable. There has been no announcements made guaranteeing the presence of a Government Department in the first stage of the developmentâ.
Eleven years down the track we can not see any real commitment from ACT Government ministers to employment in the Gungahlin Town Centre.
Written by Alan Kerlin Friday, 09 March 2007 20:00
Recently there was a story in the media about ACT having the lowest vacancy rate in 16 years for office accommodation. On 11/2/07 I sent the following letter to the editor of the Canberra Times. Unfortunately it didn't get published. But I will pursue it with Minister Corbell and the LDA as the opportunity allows.
Subject: Letter to the editor: Canberra office shortage
So the ACT is facing the lowest office vacancy rates in 16 years?
The time is right then to do something about the oft-promised employment opportunities for the Gungahlin district.
Read more: Canberra Office Shortage - where are Gungahlin's jobs?
Written by Alan Kerlin Wednesday, 28 February 2007 20:00
The February PDF meeting covered a range of topics - mainly the upcoming Territory Plan changes and affordable housing.
Written by Alan Kerlin Tuesday, 27 February 2007 20:00
ACTPLA met with representatives of all the Canberra Community Councils on 27/2/07 to discuss how they are going with their consultation processes. That they take such measures is a very good sign, and follows on from what I have found to be - while I've been with the GCC - a responsive and proactive approach to engaging with the community that they serve. Some other areas of the ACT Government could learn from ACTPLA's example...
Read more: ACTPLA/Community Councils meeting about consultation
Written by Alan Kerlin Tuesday, 20 February 2007 20:00
Prior to Christmas the GCC was involved in a preliminary round of community and industry consultation about the draft Territory Plan. There were four or five workshops where specific issues on the structure and content were worked through, plus dummy runs conducted on the draft against test case DAs.
Written by Alan Kerlin - GCC President Tuesday, 06 February 2007 10:00
In November 2006, ACTPLA gave public notice of a development application lodged by the Land Development Authority.
The development is to do landscaping works worth $2.5M in the linear strip between "The G" and the Big W buildings and to demolish the existing playground and redo all the works in that strip right down to the Community Centre and library.
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