Written submissions from City and Gateway Urban Design Framework Stage 2 Community engagement No. Submission 1 Canberra is turning into a ****hole city while sleazy, slimey pollies and greedy developers are teaming up and cashing in. Extra dwellings would be good if it was helping young people get into the property market. Poor people will be losers again, while it opens up so many $$$$ opportunities for rich and sleazy 2 What - now proposing only 2 lanes on Northbourne Avenue between City Hill and Antill St? Yesterday with only two lanes operating due to light rail works it took me 30 minutes to travel from Alinga St to Macarthur Avenue at 8.30 am. 3 I own (and live in) an apartments in the blocks currently flagged for re-zoning around the MacArthur Ave intersection. I would welcome the opportunity to speak to a planner to understand the impact on my property, but I am out of town this weekend, and I am unavailable to attend during work hours. Do you have plans to provide access to people outside of work hours? The limited options available don’t seem reasonable for the magnitude of the changes you are proposing and the number of Canberrans who will be impacted by this proposal. 4 Thank you for the opportunity to comment. What a revolting disutopian vision for what used to be the Bush Capital. Dreary concrete edifice complexes festooned with laundry and cheap draperies housing pallid fat denizens living on cheap takeaway. Overcrowded schools and services, drab "pocket parks" so overshadowed in winter that they resemble decrepit ice-rinks, struggling street trees, backed up storm water and sewage systems and endless noise from people and vehicles. Even now, Canberra's open spaces are ugly in the baking heat and dust of summer and repellent in the cold gloom of winter. We lack enough attractively planted, suitably shaded parks with verdant beds and lawns, coffee shops and play equipment that kids actually like. Haig Park is a pit. Garema place is a concrete desert. City Hill a dated and isolated island in a sea of traffic. I am so glad I wont be living in this ghastly hole in 5 years time, our family is moving where the ALP is not run by the CFMEU, bikie gangs and tasteless nouveau riche developers (yes I mean GeoconArtists). 5 When reading the Canberra times this morning I noticed an article that discussed possible changes to the legal height for buildings in Canberra. I know public opinion was encouraged so please read my thoughts below. I am in disagreement with allowing higher buildings in Canberra. You may think that it is just the older generation who consider Canberra as the bush capital and have 'old town' views as Mr Barr was previously quoted, but this is wrong. I am 22 years old and have always lived in Canberra. I am not a country bogan and neither are my parents. I am university educated and would like to think that like all Canberrans my opinion should be heard. I bought my own home in Canberra and the reason I decided to stay in the area I grew up in was because of how unique it is. Canberra is not a big city and convenience is really a great selling point for our city but what I love most is that we are surrounded by nature and that is why we are 'the bush capital.' 1 No. Submission The recent urban development’s taking place are a stark contrast to what Canberra has always been. The white modern buildings all of different heights are an eyesore and cause disruption among the roads that weren't built for this level of congestion. I'm seeing some of our beautiful landscapes be bull dozed to make way for more of the same compact style living and companies competing for the highest building. Our environment is suffering not to mention the beautiful native animals we are so lucky to have right by our door. Canberra isn't meant to be an imitation of Melbourne and Sydney. Canberra has always had its own personality and shone through amongst criticism. Changing the building height limit is morphing our city and soon we will be just like the other big cities - cultureless, dirty and concrete. If I wanted a concrete jungle I would have moved to Sydney but Canberra is special because of the bush and those beautiful mountains we wake up to everyday. I understand the need to keep up and continue developing but this can be done without losing our uniqueness and personality. Don't make Canberra like everywhere else. 6 I am writing to, with strong reservations, support the increased density along the tram line. I however would only support this proposal with the development of stringent standards for all new development and harsh penalties for deviations from these standards. Double glazing, natural lighting and extremely energy efficient targets must be met to minimise the environmental impact of the increased population. I would also encourage solar panel and batteries to reduce environmental impact. Tender for developers must be transparent (with developers who have previously not complied with the DA banned from applying) OR even better, the ACT government should act as the developer to guarantee standards of building and to ensure the profits from these developments benefit the ACT population, not merely lining the pockets of developers (who are on par with used car salesmen in term or reputation in Canberra). Community greenspace must be included in these developments, as must consideration for families. An example of excellent density comes from Copenhagen in which apartment blocks have communal green space and play equipment for children, vegetable patches etc. Further, the aesthetics of these developments must be a great deal better than the flammable Lego block monstrosities which have been built over the last 15 years. Prime land cannot be given to developers who will half-ass buildings to maximise profits as has happened elsewhere in Canberra. Humans have to live in these buildings and as such, they must be livable, safe and have amenities nearby to encourage walking and use of public transport. Owner occupiers should be given priority in purchase. Given that these buildings will not only house thousands of people but also form the first impression of Canberra, they must be of excellent quality. This needs to be guaranteed before there will be community support. The standard of buildings currently do not inspire much faith in future developments and there needs to be a legislative basis that assures quality. 7 I wholeheartedly support any and all efforts to bring more housing of all types to the City and surrounding areas, and believe this proposal is an excellent step towards energising these areas by bringing more people to work, live and enjoy these areas. I believe the lifting building height limits is a necessary and sensible step to achieve higher populations in the City area, and that doing so will help bring more businesses and recreation opportunities to the City area and Canberra generally. I believe that more housing in the City will allow businesses to leverage the population living in the immediate surroundings and this gives more opportunities to businesses to open and flourish in the City. Additionally, I believe that building up to and around the Lake is an excellent idea. I would like to see a “barrier” of 10-50 metres around a large portion of the Lake to remain as public recreation spaces including bike paths, parks and green space; to ensure the Lake remains very much a public area. However, I 2 No. Submission think that allowing restaurants, bars and some retail stores around the Lake would help bring people to what I consider to be one of Canberra’s best and most underutilised assets. The Lake is very pleasant and interesting and it makes no sense to me that it exists mostly within a void, isolated from the rest of the City by Parkes Way and in an area which gets little to no foot traffic and in which only attracts people who are specifically going to the Lake itself. I think that a boardwalk style development of mixed-use buildings would help liven the area around the Lake and support all efforts to ultilise and develop this area more, such as City to The Lake. Please take my ideas into consideration. As I have not found information regarding how this email would be used on the YourSay website, I would like to request that my name and other identifying information be removed from this information if at all possible. I would appreciate more clarity about how this information would be used and whether it will remain paired with associated data such as my name and email address, who will have access to this data and for what purposes it will be used. I request that this information be made more clear in the future, as it was not clear to me if this email is bound by the T&Cs and Privacy Policy of the YourSay site or not. 8 It appears to me that we are going to have another canyon of multi-storey wall-to-wall apartments like Flemington Road. An absolute disgrace and destroying the unique fabric of Canberra as a garden city. 9 I’m very much supportive of the planning framework. Combined with Light Rail it will represent a transformational change for the City’s north which is long overdue. As a homeowner in O’Connor, I’m looking forward to the improvement in services, amenity and transit options the implementation of this framework will provide.