Proposed West Belconnen Development

The proposal for future development further west of the already immensely sprawled suburbs of Canberra is astonishing. It first came to my attention about 3 weeks ago, but today, our guest speaker Michael Pilbrow - who is involved in the West Belconnen development, raised the issue again, and I was further puzzled. (Area of proposed development shown below):




Canberra, with a population density of just 443.5 people per km squared, is heavily sprawled. This immense sprawl is an identified issue - it's not unknown. In fact, as outlined in Time to Talk's Canberra 2030 report, it is one of the major goals for Canberra to become "a compact city" with "integrated and sustainable transport" and "lower carbon emissions" (Canberra 2030 report, 2010). Yet it seems - with confirmation from Pilbrow, that physical development will begin in around 18 months time, that these direct goals will be completely ignored - hence my astonishment.

A new suburb on the existing urban fringe would not achieve a more "compact city" and would not result in an "integrated and sustainable transport" system with "lower carbon emissions". Residents of the proposed suburb would be encouraged to use private transport just as much as existing fringe suburbs due to continual lack of access to public transport. This would lead to compounding issues within the suburb and city including increased traffic congestion and noise.

Additionally, I believe the West Belconnen development would hinder Canberra's sustainability goals - also identified in Canberra 2030. The development would be bordered by two waterways - the Murrumbidgee River and Ginninderra Creek (as shown above). A stated vision of the development is "protecting the environment - including the protection and rehabilitation of the Murrumbidgee River and Ginninderra Creek". However, in my view, a new suburb adjacent to natural waterways would disrupt the natural marine ecosystems and cause major damage to environmental functioning.

If the board of the West Belconnen development is serious about "protecting the environment" I'd consider not directly digging it up and developing it.

That's my opinion, check out the West Belconnen devlopment website and see what you think here: http://talkwestbelconnen.com.au/


References:

Canberra 2030 report - http://timetotalk.act.gov.au/storage/78d10e40d957379825347909b6e2bfd9.Time%20to%20talk%20-%20web%20version.pdf

Demographics info -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_Canberra