Media 2003...

Media 2003...

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In this section of the website you can read selected media releases from the Gungahlin Community Council made in 2003.

Gold Creek Homestead - Public Information Session
April 09, 2003

A public information session will be held this Thursday evening (April 10, 2003) at the Theatrette at Gold Creek High School (Nicholls) to inform the public of the current progress regarding the conservation and restoration of the historic Gold Creek Homestead and surrounding grounds.

The Gold Creek Homestead site is a green oasis of approximately 10 hectares surrounded by residential development in Ngunnawal. The site incorporates the Gold Creek Homestead (dating back to the European colonisation of the region in the mid 1800s), as well as numerous significant trees and other facilities still used for occasional tourism purposes.

The Minister for Planning had agreed to conserve and utilise the site for community uses. A preliminary audit has been undertaken by the ACT Government regarding the costs to stabilise any further deterioration of the homestead and restore it a level that could become “commercially viable”.

The purpose of the meeting is to inform the public of the current status of the project and solicit input on potential community uses that the community would prefer to see offered on the site. A representative of the ACT Government will also be present at this meeting.

Members of the public interested in the conservation and restoration of the homestead and surrounding grounds are encouraged to attend and provide input.

Date: Thursday 10 April 2003
Time: 7:30pm – 9:30pm
Where: Theatrette, Gold Creek High School (Senior Site), Kelleway Avenue, Nicholls

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Gungahlin Progress At Expense Of Community Wishes
March 16, 2003

Whilst delivering a significant boost to the retail and employment opportunities to the Gungahlin region, the sale of blocks 13 and 14 with the current planned traffic arrangements, will ensure that the Gungahlin Town Centre remains a hazardous centre well into the future.

"The Gungahlin Community Council (GCC) at this stage cannot fault the building design of the proposed development, but is bitterly disappointed that the Minister for Planning has proceeded without appropriate and due consideration for consultation on a pedestrian precinct and proper town square. The government had an opportunity to deliver this significant development boost to the region and also addresses and allay community concerns about traffic issues in the town centre at the same time." stated Council President Mr. Barry Dee.

"Instead the Minister has deliberately ignored both the community and a successful motion in the Legislative Assembly that called for appropriate consultation before selling the blocks. We now have a situation where pedestrians will have to continue to compete against through traffic and any notion of a town square has been reduced to an oversized grassed median strip, bounded on all sides by roads," continued Mr. Dee

The GCC welcomes the Ministers statements that community views will be sought on the development of the Town Centre Common, but remains somewhat sceptical and reserves judgement in light of the attitudes toward previous consultation that has occurred.

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Community Concerns In Regard To Gungahlin Town Centre Planning Recognised
February 19, 2003

The Gungahlin Community Council (GCC) welcomes the motion passed by the ACT Opposition and Crossbench members in the Legislative Assembly this evening. The motion recognised that there should be more collaborative and inclusive planning involving the community for the Gungahlin Town Centre Precinct.

“The Council remains disappointed that Minister Corbell indicated that he may actually ignore the motion as was passed. We can only hope that the Minister will choose to actively engage the community in collaborative and inclusive consultation on the town centre planning issues, and not decide to act unilaterally against community desires,” stated Mr Barry Dee, president of the Gungahlin Community Council.

The Council has always acknowledged that Gungahlin will be developed differently to other town centres, in that it will not have the enclosed shopping malls of the other centres. At no time has the original underlying concept of a modern urban village with active street frontages been denied. The council believes that it has been misrepresented in the fact that all that was called for is the addressing of safety issues of through traffic and the concept of a pedestrian precinct town square on the scale of Garema place be incorporated into the existing plans.

“We now encourage the Minister and the appropriate planning authorities to immediately and actively engage the Gungahlin community in open, transparent, collaboration and consultation,” continued Mr Dee

“The six weeks that has been proposed for the consultation process will have minimal long-term impact in the development of the town centre. The assertion that this additional period will result in detrimental long term effects on the provision of new retail and employment opportunities in the town centre is rejected by the Council,” Mr Dee concluded.

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Minister ignores calls for Gungahlin Town Square
February 15, 2003

The Gungahlin Community Council (GCC) is bitterly disappointed that the Planning Minister, and the Gungahlin Development Authority (GDA) are planning to ignore the proposal for a pedestrian precinct town square for Gungahlin Town Centre, by letting the tender for Retail/Mixed Use Blocks, Sections 13 and 14 proceed as they stand.

Recent correspondence received from the Minister, and evidence given at the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment last week, indicated clearly that the Minister and the GDA had neither comprehended nor taken on board the proposals for a pedestrian precinct and town square, instead intending to proceed with the through traffic vehicular configuration for the Town Centre. This advice is in contradiction to a personal undertaking given by the Chief Minister Jon Stanhope, at the October 2002 meeting of the Gungahlin Community Council, that, if the community wanted a pedestrian precinct he would be responsive to that concept.

The GCC at all times has encouraged further rapid development in the town centre to enhance retail and employment opportunities. However the council's view is that a town square can be easily incorporated by reconfiguration of small sections of Sections 13 and 14 and Section 37 in between, to accommodate and create a the town square with a similar ambience and amenity to that of Garema place.

The community is being mislead by statements from the current minister saying that any additional time taken to incorporate a reconfiguration of the town centre will not be in the best interests of the Community as a whole. The community is obviously being denied a say in the planning of our own town centre," stated Council President Mr. Barry Dee.

The community sentiment in support of the pedestrian precinct and Town Square has been overwhelmingly expressed over the last few months at public meetings, with letters to the Chief Minister, and an email campaign to all elected representatives and relevant agency heads.

"The campaign will culminate with the presentation of a petition in the Legislative Assembly this week, this will be only days before the GDA is expected to award the tenders that will forever thwart any possibility of changing the configuration of the town centre," concluded Mr Dee.

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Public Meeting - WEDNESDAY, 12 FEBRUARY 2003
February 10, 2003

Keynote Speaker: ACT Senator (Designate) Mr Gary Humphries

The next public meeting of the Gungahlin Community Council will occur Wednesday 12th February 2003 between 19:30 and 21:30

Our keynote speaker this month will be Mr. Gary Humphries, ACT Senator (Designate), the former leader of the ACT Opposition and a former MLA.
Mr Humphries will make a presentation recounting about his time in the ACT Legislative Assembly and outline his future commitment to the Gungahlin district
in his new role as an ACT Senator.

If residents have specific concerns and issues they wish to raise concerning the Gungahlin district (specifically at a Federal Government level) that they may like to take up directly with the new Senator they are strongly urged to attend this meeting.

Date: Wednesday 12th February 2003
Time: 7:30pm - 9:30pm
Where: Gungahlin Resources Centre, Ernest Cavanaugh Street, Gungahlin Town Centre (Co-located with the Gungahlin Town Centre Library, opposite Centrelink office)

Additional information about the Gungahlin Community Council and its activities can be obtained on the Internet at the following address: www.gcc.asn.au

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