On Wednesday, 3 September ACT Government representatives and consultants gave a briefing on plans for asbestos remediation works associated with the Brickworks. About 150 residents attended the public meeting, at Albert Hall.

Key points from the government and consultants:

• Work is to begin by the end of September 2014 on a specific area at the rear of the Brickworks which is identified as an asbestos dump.
• It is believed that most or all of the dumped asbestos is “bonded” asbestos – ie. as a 3-4% component of building materials such as fibro-cement sheeting, roofing, pipes etc.
• Stage 1 of the task is to remove all surface debris and vegetation from the area and drill down to investigate the content and depth of the dump.
• Stage 1 is expected to produce about 10 truckloads of debris, including asbestos, which will be taken to Mugga Lane tip for disposal. (NB these trucks are likely to pass through Deakin and Forrest via Hopetoun Circuit or other residential streets en route to Mugga Way and Hindmarsh Drive, being the most direct route to Mugga Lane)
• The safety protocols and procedures will be the ones used currently for fibro house demolitions throughout Canberra and for land remediation at the Molonglo and Campbell (Constitution Ave) dump sites.
• A 10-metre isolation zone will be fenced off around any work in progress, and all excavation will be done with potential dust wetted down.
• “Mr Fluffy” type contamination is not anticipated, but if found will be handled accordingly with higher levels of precaution.
• As well as the contracted environmental consultant there will be a separate independent auditor regularly checking safety procedures and measurements.
• Stage 2 will involve removing all contaminated soil from the site, to an estimated depth of about 3 metres, trucking the contaminated soil to West Belconnen, then backfilling the Brickworks site wtih clean fill.
• Details on the scope and protocols of Stage 2 will depend on the results of investigations in Stage 1.

Key concerns of residents:

Residents raised many concerns about safety issues, and about uncertainty over the full scope of movement of contaminated soils and materials near and through residential areas.

• What about the many other possible contaminated sites within the Brickworks and the adjoining proposed development zones, for which no remediation plan has been put forward?
• How can dust suppression be guaranteed on a site that is chronically windy, with prevailing winds blowing toward adjoining residences?
• How can the independence of the auditor be guaranteed when all parties concerned are, in the end, working for the government that wishes to prepare the land for sale or development?
• How can residential streets be protected from the large-scale heavy truck traffic, carrying contaminated loads, especially in Stage 2?

A motion demanding adequate consultation and information for residents was passed unaminmously. (See website of the Yarralumla Residents’ Association).

DRA has been advised by the ACT Environment and Planning Directorate that the Deakin Soccer Club is proposing “an overall upgrade to the oval due to occur in 2015 to enable the facility to participate in the Asian Cup… (works) proposed to be commenced early 2015.”

This advice was in response to DRA queries as to why the public car park works behind the Ambassador apartments had not been completed in accordance with lease conditions. The ESD has given the Deakin Soccer Club an extension of time due to the carpark area being used during the upgrade works in early 2015.

No development application has yet been submitted for these upgrade works. DRA recently made a submission querying the Soccer Club’s application to de-concessionalise its lease for unspecified “ancillary uses”.

DRA will take an interest in these proposals as they emerge, and we invite resident opinions, bearing in mind potential parking issues, noise or other factors that may be of concern to nearby residents. We will also urge that any upgrade works will result in more public amenity for residents and the ACT population generally, rather than just generating limited commercial opportunities as has occurred with developments based on other concessional leases.

Many Deakin dogs and their owners are aware of the lack of appropriate spaces for resident dogs to be exercised off-leash.

They may not be aware that the only designated spaces within Deakin itself are at West Deakin either side of the Mint oval, including those blocks where the Land Development Agency has proposed to erect high-rise residential and commercial buildings adjacent to Adelaide Avenue.

Some Deakin residents may not be aware that neither Latrobe Park nor the stormwater and utlities easment along the foot of Red Hill reserve is not approved for off-leash dog exercise.

The LDA plans also would build over current off-leash areas in Yarralumla. As a result, the Brickworks proposal would eliminate almost the only off-leash precinct in or close to Deakin.

DRA learned, too late to make submission, that ACTPLA is conducting a review of off-leash dog exercise areas across the ACT.

The issue is a difficult one, requiring to balance the needs and rights of dogs and dog owners with the reasonable apprehensions of other park-users (including owners of vulnerable dogs) about unpredictable or aggressive behaviour by poorly-managed off-leash dogs.

The ACTPLA consultation papers are at THIS LINK.

The ACTPLA map link covers all dog-exercise areas in the entire ACT, and may be difficult to navigate. DRA provides this section of the Deakin/Yarralumla proposal – off-leash exercise area in hatched green, “conditional” areas (subject to other uses) are in hatched brown.

Click here for Deakin Residents’ Association Press Release, 30 May 2014 applauding intial ACT Government response to the report of the Auditor-General into the handling of single-dwelling Development Applications in the ACT, and calling for follow-up actions to ensure transparency and community engagement in approval processes.

The ACT Auditor-General has released a significant report identifying flaws in the system of approval and certification of building development applications for single-unit dwellings – suburban houses. The report was undertaken following public controversy over the construction of a house on Gawler Crescent that had been wrongly assessed by a certifier as exempt from the need to lodge a Development Application.

Deakin Residents’ Association was one of the complainants, though the Auditor-General’s report was at the request of the house owner who sought to clear his name from allegations made on the RiotACT website, not by DRA.

The Canberra Times’ summarises the findings of the Auditor-General, with a raft of recommendations for improving accountability of developers and building certifiers. These findings are similar to recommendations DRA has made in submissions to the ACT Government, focussing on transparency.

The media release of the Auditor-General’s report is here, and here is the full report in a zip archive.

The Summary pages give a quick digest, and several case studies are examined, including the Gawler Crescent case in Deakin.

UPDATE: DRA Committee meeting on 5 June 2014 has agreed that DRA will write to Minister Corbell urging quick implementation of all recommendations.

The Land Development Agency has announced its revised Yarralumla Brickworks re-development proposal (see Canberra Times report).

It involves some 1,600 residential units of varying heights, with 400 on the Deakin side of Adelaide Avenue, west of Kent Street. The proposal envisages that these would be up to 8 stories in height. The project is expected to take 8-10 years to completion.

Many residents were unsatisfied with the lack of detail provided by LDA at its drop-in information session at the Brickworks site in Denman Street on Saturday 31 May. There will also be consultation on individual proposals as they emerge once the overall plan has been approved.

DRA is liaising with Yarralumla Residents Association and the Inner South Canberra Community Council to ensure that the ACT Government applies proper planning principles to this development and does not compromise the future quality of Canberra for the short-term cash gains from one-off land sales.

Details of LDA proposals can be viewed at this link.

When complete the entire development will house some 4,000 residents – it is effectively a new, dense suburb larger in population than either Yarralumla (pop. 2,907 at last census) or Deakin (pop. 2,783).

There are some key issues for residents:

• Community services – there doesn’t appear to be any allowance for schools, shops, etc. Unless fully addressed, this will put major pressure on those facilities in Yarralumla and Deakin.
• Traffic issues – there are already significant traffic problems with Kent/Novar Streets and these will be exacerbated unless dealt with.
• Adelaide Avenue bus stop – it is proposed that an amount of $3 million will be invested in a bus stop on Adelaide Avenue at Kent Street (in line with the bus stops study undertaken by ACTPLA in 2012).

We encourage you to participate in the community consultation day, and to provide comments then, and/or as part of the community consultation that follows.

The closing date for public comment is 14 July 2014, leaving little time for proper analysis and response.

DRA plans to make a submission. Join Deakin Residents Association and assist us with input to this important process.

ACT Planning and Land authority has invited comment on a plan to build a terrace of seven townhouses on the north side of Gawler Crescent, near the corner of Hopetoun Circuit. The townhouses would replace two existing houses with the two sections being consolidated. Plans show off-street parking for fourteen cars.

Click here for streetscape views from the application.

This is the first instance of density higher than dual-occupancy on the east side of Hopetoun Circuit. The blocks on both sides of Hopetoun Circuit between Adelaide Avenue and Stonehaven Crescent are already zoned to permit this kind of densification, subject to planning reviews.

We encourage residents to take up the invitation to view and comment on the development application, and to be in touch with Deakin Residents’ Association if you have concerns you would like to raise. Comments close on 12 June 2014.

Inner south community organisation representatives, including DRA President Peter Wurfel, met with ACT Government officials from Roads ACT and Parking Operations to discuss the flow-on to surrounding suburbs of the introduction of pay parking in the Parliamentary Triangle.

For Deakin residents the key issue is the potential for commuters to seek free parking in streets adjoining the Parliamentary Triangle, together with lack of enforcement of illegal parking.

The map highlights in cyan those streets where it is proposed that additional parking restrictions could be needed. In Deakin, these are Melbourne Avenue, National Circuit, Canterbury Crescent and Daly Street. DRA has also asked them to look at Grey Street (parallel to Adelaide Avenue, next to the Prime Minister’s Lodge) which already is congested with visitor and all-day parking associated with the Lodge, the Italian Embassy, and the Girls Grammar junior school. Other streets may also be affected over time.

A letter box drop is expected in May, and implementation should occur in June.
Noting the lax enforcement of current parking restrictions, we have sent a budget proposal to the ACT Government requesting funding for more parking inspectors to be in place to meet the expected needs. The outcome of this will be known when the ACT Budget is delivered in June.

DRA expressed the view that illegal parking is not taken seriously enough, especially with the recent introduction of new parking restrictions around the grammar school environs. Parking Operations response is that they are actively working in conjunction with AFP to address this (obviously within current resources), and monitoring has been occurring. We encourage residents to let us know of any concerns on this issue so that we may keep the government informed.

UPDATE 9 May 2014

The ACT Government’s decision to withdraw the Bill can be seen as a validation of effective coordination among resident and community groups. Resistance is not always futile!

ORIGINAL POST
DRA has been working actively with other community representative groups in the ACT to respond to the ACT Government’s attempt to introduce radical changes to the consultation and appeal processes of the ACT planning system, in the form of the Planning and Development (Project Facilitation) Amendment Bill 2014. This Bill is currently before the Legislative Assembly.

The Bill would give a planning minister the power to designate “Special Projects” and “Special Precincts” which would be exempt from some of the current planning criteria (eg Heritage and Tree Preservation requirements).

Concerns were canvassed within the Deakin Residents Assocation, and further discussed with other Inner South groups under the Inner South Canberra Community Council, and on 3 May discussed at a session of the Combined Community Councils (CCC) of the ACT, comprising resident and community groups from every part of Canberra.

Following that meeting the Convenor of the CCC, Tom Anderson, wrote letters to the Chief Minister and other senior politicians expressing a consensus of concerns held by all residents representative groups.

In summary, the Combined Community Councils made eight points:

1. The Bill would not stimulate the local economy and could do irreparable harm to Canberra’s planning. It should be withdrawn in favour of a better overall strategic/operational planning approach.
2. If the Bill proceeds, any declared “Special” projects or precincts should be for a limited period with a sunset clause.
3. Better definitions are required for “substantial public benefit” and “of major significance”.
4. The focus should be on fast-track approval only of exceptional projects rather than conferring a blanket discretion on the relevant Minister.
5. Appeals to ACAT must remain an option, as the costs of Supreme Court Appeals are prohibitive for most stakeholders.
6. The proposed Bill dramatically reduces the requirements on developers for public consultation and accountability.
7. Heritage Protection and Tree Protection must not be overridden.
8. A public consultation period of 60 days should be available before any declaration can be made.

The outcome of Legislative Assembly processes remains unclear, since an Assembly committee failed to produce a common report on these issues.

Community councils continue to call on elected representatives of all parties to ensure a proper balance between economic objectives and broader community expectations of development goals.