Deakin/Yarralumla road closure update

Construction works are progressing to upgrade three intersections along Kent/Novar streets.

Based on the current program progress, the current closures including Dudley Street, Kent Street bridge and the Adelaide Avenue off-ramp will be completed at the end of March (weather permitting).

We understand these closures are impacting travel times, particularly during the morning peak period on weekdays.

To help ease the traffic impact to local residents, stop/slow traffic controller arrangements will be in place at the Hopetoun Circuit interchange during the morning peak period on weekdays from Wednesday 15 March until the closures are lifted.

When these road closures are lifted at the end of March, major road works for this project will be complete with traffic lights operational at the three intersections. This brings the program forward by around six months.

Minor works will continue beyond March, including landscaping work. These works will be conducted outside of peak travel times and are not expected to cause traffic disruptions.

Updates will continue to be provided via the project page and email.

If you have any questions, please email communityengagement@act.gov.au.

The Deakin Residents’ Association (DRA) believes that, in relation to the draft Inner South Canberra District Strategy, urban intensification should be rejected on economic, social, environmental, cultural, and heritage grounds.

We have commented on the Meccone report on infill and densification and the connection to justifying light rail 2b.

In our response to the Draft Strategy, we have also addressed cultural and heritage issues environmental issues, social issues and concerns about the future of the Deakin shopping center.

Our submission can be found at the link below.

DRA-Comments-on-draft-Inner-South-Canberra-District-Strategy-GRW.pdf

On the 14th of February over 200 Yarralumla and Deakin residents packed the Yarralumla primary school hall to listen to speakers from both the Yarralumla and Deakin Residents Associations and Richard Johnston and Albert Obderdorf who have a planning background, on how the impacts of the proposed new planning framework.

The slide presentations from Dr. Diana Wright (YRA) and Dr. John Bell (DRA) and those of the invited speakers are on the YRA website — Presentations from Public Information Session.

A survey was conducted and

• 97.5% of those that attended the meeting did not support extensive high density, high rise, and densification of our suburbs as proposed by the ACT Government.
  • The scale of the development proposed is seen as excessive with some 30 %to 50% of the suburb becoming 3-6+ storey apartments. This will change the character of our suburb forever.
  • All of this is to developments at the Yarralumla Brickworks and CSIRO Forestry redevelopments.

• The proposed new planning framework will impact existing tree canopy cover and create urban heat islands (all in a period of significant climate change).

 The community has until 3 March 2023 to submit views on the proposed new planning framework. The DRA committee believes residents should submit their own views to supplement those of the committee.

The outcomes and issues discussed at the 14 February meeting have also been posted to assist you in this process.

ISCCC Public Forum: 7 Feb: Implications for Inner South Residents of Draft New Territory Plan and District Strategy

Residents only have until 3 March to provide their views to the ACT Government on its draft new Territory Plan and District Strategy. It’s an improvement on the previous deadline of 14 February, but it’s still tight.

Due to the tight timeframe, and the complexity of what’s being proposed, the ISCCC has brought forward its public forum on these issues to Tuesday, 7 February, at 7-9pm at the Eastlake Football Club, 3 Oxley Street, Griffith.

Please register to attend on Eventbrite: 

ISCCC Public Forum-7 February 2023 Tickets, Tue, Feb 7, 2023 at 7:00 PM | Eventbrite

Attached is the agenda for the public forum. After overviews of the implications of the draft new Territory Plan and inner south district strategy, there will be break-out groups to identify and gain feedback on, implications for specific suburbs and for heritage. This will be an in-person event only.

Besides the public forum, the ISCCC also plans to reach out to a range of other stakeholder groups on the issues, for example, ACTCOSS, Advocacy for Inclusion, First Nations, Conservation Council, industry groups, and others, as we cannot cover it all on 7 February.

Note for Deakin, Forrest and Yarralumla residents: there will be more detail about the implications for your suburbs at a separate meeting at 7.30pm on Tuesday, 14 February at the Yarralumla Primary School Hall, organised by the Deakin and Yarralumla Residents Associations. However, we will still have a break-out table available for you if you attend on 7 February.

At the ISCCC’s November 2022 public forum/AGM, ACT Government speakers gave an overview of the new draft Inner South District Strategy and new draft Territory Plan. – https://www.isccc.org.au/draft-record-of-agm-forum-8… 

Members of the ISCCC Committee and member residents’ groups have been analysing the many hundreds of pages of documents to identify key issues and implications for inner south residents. We will summarise what we’ve learnt so far and seek your feedback on 7 February.

Another trend which is disturbing the DRA committee is the proliferation of front fences rather than hedges.

We wonder about the application of the rules which state that you will need development approval for a fence between a privately owned property and unleased Territory land (including areas such as parks, reserves, public access areas, street frontage, a laneway and other landscaped buffer areas) unless exempt from requiring approval.
All fences are built and maintained at the cost of the private property owner.

Approval is not required for:

• hedges
• property demarcation treatments that are up to 400mm above the natural ground level
• repair or replacement of fences if they are the same as the approved original
• side or rear boundary fences between neighbours up to 2.3m above natural ground level and located behind the front building line

One of DRA’s main objectives is to maintain the garden city landscape in our suburb.

We are concerned about the exposed bare ground on nature strips and the soil compaction affecting street trees. Parking on nature strips is the primary cause.

We note that parking on the nature strip is illegal under the Australian Road Rules (1999) and infringement notices can be issued.

Notice of  meeting on the evening of 14th February 2023 at 7:30 pm Yarralumla Primary school. This will be a joint meeting with YRA/DRA in conjunction with the ISCCC.

More information

To help you understand some of the issues, here is a link to the CPAG 12/22 newsletter.

https://shoutout.wix.com/so/31OKeo82W?languageTag=en&cid=5459edc1-f29a-4757-beeb-8da1a5961f16

CPAG includes a number of planners and is an independent non-government body.

At the link, you will find notes prepared for the ISCCC on issues that are relevant to the Inner South in relation to development applications.

Click here for the DA Decision Making document

The executive of DRA and YRA met Senator David Pocock on 5^th Dec 2022 to discuss light rail, ACT planning and seaplanes on the Lake.

During the meeting, we raise the following points.

In our view,

A. The National Capital Authority which is a Federal government agency is failing not only its responsibilities for areas under its direct control in the Parliamentary Triangle but its role in oversighting the planning for the whole of ACT as the national capital.

 In regard to the light rail/tram stage 2, The NCA failed to ask for a cost-benefit analysis of alternatives.

B. In regard to the yet unapproved Stage 2b, we believe that:

• Densification of Deakin and Yarralumla along the proposed route to Woden is used to justify its construction. However, there are a few sites for this to occur. Replacing embassies, schools and sports ovals with high-density housing does not seem likely.
• Even if current land use could be changed there can be only one stop on Adelaide Avenue and two on Yarra Glen.
• Damage to the heritage values of the national capital and the construction of a new bridges will be profound, especially over the Lake
• Approval is a Commonwealth Government issue.
  • Clearance is required under 1. Commonwealth EPBC Act 2. By NCA and 3. by a vote of both Houses of Parliament.
• Cost-benefit is not available for stage 2b.
  • What is the rate of return on the investment?
• The current partially developed proposal fails to consider alternatives.
  • electric bikes could be given away to everyone who wanted one and the best bike network in the world could be built across Canberra
    • and ACT Gov would have $ billions left over.

C. In regard to proposals to conduct float plane services from Sydney to the lake, we wondered if the operation could be conducted on cloudy days. An instrument approach through cloud to land on the lake seems unlikely. With a limitation like that would regular advertised services be possible?

DRA has written to the Minister for planning and the National Capital Authority in the following terms complaining about the inadequacy of the information and the opportunity to comment on the proposed redevelopment of the Art Gallery site and Grey Street.

This post is in relation to the inadequacy of an online information session held by Canberra Town Planning on 13 December 2022 about a proposed development on Block 13 Section 49 Deakin, the Grey Street Art Gallery site. The session was billed as a ‘virtual information session’. The session was not widely advertised in the suburb. For example, we understand that residents of the Ambassador Apartments immediately across the road from the proposed development were not informed. As far as we know there was no mention of social media platforms and the consultation not delivered in a form that would allow many local residents to attend.

The Deakin Residents’ Association (DRA) did pass information about the event to our members and to our contact list, but one reported that although they had expressed an interest in attending they did not hear back from the organisers. 

We had expected that this session would be conducted by the proponents as a ‘consultation’ with Deakin residents, but as a consultation session, it was utterly flawed. The introduction was brief, few plans were shown, there were initial mistakes in critical information (numbers of residential units/number of storeys) which were later corrected and there was completely inadequate information on the major issues that would allow residents to make any judgement at all about the scale of the planned development and its potential impact on the suburb. The drawings did not even represent the likely final look or even colour of the building. Many questions were answered with the words that it was a ‘work in progress’. This included the architecture, landscaping (no landscape plan was provided), on-site resident and visitor parking, planned numbers of units, likely number of residents, what would be on the ground floor and concerns for the adjoining school.

We understood from the Zoom session that the ‘consultation period’ ends on 16 January. However we consider that the ACT Government and NCA should not accept the outcome of this session as satisfactorily meeting requirements of ‘community consultation’. If this development goes ahead it would be a massive building, on a controversial site, alongside heritage significant Adelaide Avenue (a Main Avenue and national processional route) and at the ‘gateway’ to Deakin, a significant Garden Suburb. The DRA does not oppose redevelopment of the site but given its strategic significance for both the whole of Adelaide Ave and the suburb of Deakin, we urge greater sensitivity in its planning. We also note that it is a small site and its location presents challenges for access for both vehicles and pedestrians.

In our view, at the very least there should be an on-site consultation session with detailed plans and correct information, with proponents available to answer questions and this session should be widely advertised by the proponents to Deakin residents through letter-boxing, posters at the shops and on accessible social media.