Celebrating : A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape

Exploring Canberra’s national heritage The Australian Heritage Council June 2012 The views and opinions expressed in this publication are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect those of the or the Minister for Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

© Commonwealth of 2012 This work is copyright. You may download, display, print and reproduce this material in unaltered form only (retaining this notice) for your personal, non-commercial use or use within your organisation. Apart from any use as permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, all other rights are reserved. Requests and enquiries concerning reproduction and rights should be addressed to Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities, Public Affairs, GPO Box 787 Canberra ACT 2601 or email public.affairs@ environment.gov.au foreword

The Australian Heritage Council is excited to be considering the national heritage significance of Canberra in the national capital’s centenary year. Canberra is vital to all as the heart of our democracy and pinnacle of our justice system.

Born of the utopian ideals of the founders of Australian Federation and grounded in the Griffins’ visionary town plan, Canberra has grown to be one of the world’s great twentieth century cities.

Australia’s national heritage comprises exceptional natural and cultural places that contribute to Australia’s national identity, from the Great Barrier Reef and the West Kimberley to Bondi Beach and Sydney Opera House.

The National Heritage List identifies the critical moments in our development as a nation, it includes: places that speak to us of exploration and settlement like the Batavia Wreck Site, Port Arthur and Bonegilla Migrant Camp, mark iconic events such as the Eureka Stockade site and the Wave Hill Walk Off Route, showcase creative achievements like the Adelaide Parklands and City Layout, or reflect joys and sorrows in the lives of Australians.

It also encompasses those places that reveal the richness of Australia’s extraordinarily diverse natural heritage, from remote ancient landscapes like Uluru/Kata Tjuta, resonant with meaning over thousands of generations of Indigenous habitation, to Riversleigh’s fossil site or the natural beauty of the Australian Alps and the Tasmanian Wilderness.

Several places within Canberra are already included on the National Heritage List: Old Parliament House, the and Memorial Parade, the High Court-National Gallery Precinct and the Australian Academy of Science Building. Many other places of local or territory significance are included on the Commonwealth Heritage List or the ACT Heritage Register.

The Council is taking a broad and overarching approach in assessing the significance of Canberra as the planned national capital. The proposed listing will capture those outstanding elements of Canberra that contribute to the key themes of:

• Canberra’s historical and symbolic significance as a new capital city established by the Australian Constitution • the city’s role in facilitating public engagement in the political process and as the site of landmark decisions and national remembrance • Canberra as a showcase of cutting-edge twentieth century town planning ideas.

The Australian Heritage Council invites all Australians to engage with the national heritage assessment of your national capital.

Dr Carmen Lawrence Chair, Australian Heritage Council May 2012 Contents foreword i

CANBERRA: 100 years at the heart of the nation 1

CANBERRA: One People, ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY 2

CANBERRA: A NATIONAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT 6

Canberra as a whole 6

Canberra as a planned city 8

The natural landscape within and around Canberra 8

What is the ‘place’ that is being assessed? 9

THE HISTORY OF CANBERRA 10

Born out of Federation 10

Planning the new capital – the competition 12

After the Griffins – planning for a capital city 13

Expansion – moving beyond inner Canberra 13

The Y-Plan 15

WHAT a NATIONAL HERITAGE LISTING OF CANBERRA WOULD MEAN 16

Exclusion of private land and structures 16

What is included in the proposed National Heritage place? 16

Proposed management arrangements 17

PUBLIC CONSULTATION 18

BIBLIOGRAPHY 19

Photo Credits 21 CANBERRA: 100 years at the heart of the nation

In 2013 Australians will be celebrating the centenary of Canberra as the nation’s capital. The city of Canberra, its inception and planning, embodies the development and evolution of Australia’s unique cultural and democratic landscape.

As one of the world’s great twentieth century Mahony Griffin has also contributed to planned cities, the city of Canberra has the creation of a city of great beauty. All represented and reflected the political Australians can be proud of their national and cultural mood of the nation since capital. Federation. Each Australian has their own To celebrate Canberra’s centenary the view and perception of Canberra, whether Australian Heritage Council is undertaking a it is Canberra as the seat of government, national heritage assessment to determine if the home of parliament, a place for decision Canberra’s unique place in our nation’s history making, protest or national commemoration, and heritage should be given Australia’s highest reflection and healing. Canberra’s natural heritage honour, a national heritage listing. landscape setting and the outstanding city design by and Marion

1 CANBERRA: One People, ONE NATION, ONE DESTINY

‘The seat of Government of the Commonwealth shall be determined by the Parliament, and shall be within territory which shall have been granted to or acquired by the Commonwealth, and shall be vested in and belong to the Commonwealth, and shall be in the State of , and be distant not less than one hundred miles from Sydney.’

Section 125 Constitution of the Commonwealth of Australia (1901)

The concept for the city of Canberra emerged ultimately embodied in the new nation’s during the movement towards Federation Constitution. in 1901. Canberra was conceived as an A congress on the planning of the new ideal city, a nation’s capital worthy of the federal capital held in Melbourne in May ideas, passion, values and patriotism of the 1901 decided that the capital ‘should be laid Federation movement. Today, Canberra is out in the most perfect manner possible’ and internationally recognised as an outstanding suggested the capital should be decided by a example of twentieth century town planning design competition. and one of a few capital cities in the world designed through an international town Selection of the site for Canberra was planning competition. finalised in 1909. The site chosen was within a pastoral valley and a natural amphitheatre The selection of the place for the nation’s of hills, sheltered by the northernmost ranges new national capital was debated vigorously of the Australian Alps. It provided a striking and at length as the nation moved towards setting for the new capital city. Federation. Many assumed that either Melbourne or Sydney, as the largest cities After 137 entries, the inspirational designs in the new nation, would become the of American architects, Walter Burley Griffin capital. However, there were concerns and Marion Mahony Griffin, were chosen that consolidating economic and political as the foundation for the new capital. The power in one of the soon to be states Griffins’ designs drew on the ‘city beautiful’ could create unbalance and bias within the and ‘garden city’ town planning movements new Federation. The decision about what current at the time. and where the new capital should be was

2 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape City Beautiful The City Beautiful was a reform philosophy current in North American architecture and urban planning circles during the 1890s and 1900s. The intent of the philosophy was to import European-style beautification and monumental grandeur into cities. The movement involved the promotion of beauty not only for its own sake but as an uplifting moral and civic force for the community. Advocates of the philosophy believed that such beautification could thus promote a harmonious social order that would increase the quality of life.

Lake Burley Griffin viewed along the water axis

Garden City

The Garden City movement was a style of urban planning that was initiated in 1898 by Sir Ebenezer Howard in the United Kingdom. Garden cities were intended to be planned, self-contained communities surrounded by “greenbelts” or parks containing proportionate areas of residences, industry and agriculture. The concept of garden cities is to produce relatively economically independent cities with short commute times and the preservation of the countryside.

Garden suburb landscape with inner hill backdrop

3 The Griffins’ design also responded sensitively to the topography of the site, realising the potential to place national monuments in a natural landscape to create symbols of democracy and evoke the sense of a connection between a young city and the great civilisations of the past. Utilising a geometry of circles, straight lines between axial points and a central triangle, the Griffins laid out grand boulevards demarcating significant national spaces, a symmetrical central lake and grand vistas. Griffin Plan 1911 The Griffins’ outstanding design influenced the city plans for New Delhi and Brasilia. The design of the 1988 Parliament House Australian Architect Paul Reid considered pays homage to the Griffins’ design by the Griffins’ design as ‘one of the finest city locating the building within rather than on top plans ever made’1, while John Reps, eminent of Capital Hill and reflecting the profile of the American urban historian, stated that Griffins’ proposed people’s Capitol building in the Parliament’s stepped retaining walls and Griffin’s vision ... remains an iconic flagpole. extraordinary achievement deserving recognition and protection as one of the The expansion of Canberra reflects changes treasures, not only of Australia, but of the and developments in Australia’s political and entire urban world.2 cultural landscape. The post-war decision to relocate the public service to Canberra led, Even though subsequent Canberra city plans in the 1960s, to the development of relatively only retained the Griffins’ street pattern, a self-contained ‘new towns’ in the valleys more naturalistic interpretation of the lake beyond the central amphitheatre, connected (later named in his honour) and the location by an intra-urban network of motorways. of the government zone and civic centre on opposite sides of the lake was developed. The Refined during the 1970s and 80s, what legacy of the Griffins’ idealistic vision remains, became known as the ‘Y Plan’ designed to however, clearly visible and popularly maintain the central area of Canberra as a celebrated in the Canberra landscape and national showcase, retaining the inner hills continues to be echoed in the planning as natural green spaces and providing public and design of new national buildings and amenity through a reinterpretation of the institutions added to the Canberra landscape. original ‘garden city’ planning concept. The aesthetic relationship between the designed city and its landscape setting is acknowledged 1 Reid, P. 2002, ix 2 Reps, J.W. 1997 quoted in National Capital Authority by ongoing community appreciation of (NCA) 2004, vi Canberra as the ‘bush capital’.

4 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape For almost a century Canberra has the Mabo and Wik legal cases took place in incorporated the latest innovations in design Canberra. Parliament House and it’s grounds and social innovation in town planning. were the site for the National Apology to the From the early garden suburbs of the 1920s Stolen Generations and the National Apology through experiments in community town to the Forgotten Australians and Former Child planning and early medium density town Migrants. These moments in our national house developments to the late twentieth history continue to resonate today. century sustainable city ‘urban infill’ approach, The heart of the nation is expressed through Canberra has emerged as a world renowned national commemorations held in Canberra. example of the layering, implementation and The Australian War Memorial, standing at the utilisation of significant twentieth century town head of the grand processional route within planning concepts. Planning historian Robert the Griffins’ monumental ‘Land Axis’ vista, Freestone describes Canberra as is recognised as the pre-eminent national …an outstanding national outdoor shrine defining the Australian spirit. The museum of the world’s best practice Aboriginal Memorial housed in the National in planning from the 1910s.3 Gallery, Reconciliation Place and the National Police Memorial in King’s Park may also be As the seat of Australia’s robust democracy, nationally significant. Canberra reflects the ideals and values of the Fathers of Federation and their ideal of ‘One In addition to federal politicians and people, one nation, one destiny’. The city of governors-general as a group several Canberra provides the Australian community politicians have set milestones in Australian with public spaces for vibrant exchanges democratic history such as the first woman between the citizenry and their parliamentary or Indigenous person elected to Parliament representatives. Canberra has been the site or serving in a significant role. A number of for momentous decisions and movements people who played a vital role in the selection, of change that have impacted on the lives of creative design and planning of the national all Australians. It has been the place for the capital are also associated with Canberra. declaration of war and peace, the decision These include politicians King O’Malley for equal rights and pay for women and and Sir , surveyor Charles the passing of the two amendments to the Scrivener, architect/designers Walter Burley Constitution arising from the referendum of Griffin and Marion Mahony Griffin, town May 1967 granting planners John Sulman, Sir John Butters, citizenship and the right to vote in federal John Overall, Peter Harrison and William elections. Holford, architect Romaldo Giurgola and horticulturalists Charles Weston and Lindsay The 1972 Aboriginal Tent Embassy located in Pryor. front of Old Parliament House played a pivotal role in raising the profile of the land rights A national heritage listing would celebrate the debate. Landmark decisions by the High outstanding physical features of the city and the Court related to the Indigenous land rights of associations with significant people and major commemorative events that make Canberra

3 Freestone, R. 2010, 274 one of the world’s great capital cities.

5 CANBERRA: A NATIONAL HERITAGE ASSESSMENT

Each year the federal heritage minister seeks nominations for the National Heritage List. In 2009, based on the theme of A Free and Fair Australia, two nominations for the City of Canberra were received.

The nominations Canberra and Surrounding In taking this approach the Council is Areas and Canberra – Central National Area challenging itself to define what the most and Inner Hills have different approaches important historical and heritage elements to the interpretation of the national heritage of the design and landscape of Canberra values of a planned city and this stirred the are and if these together are of outstanding Australian Heritage Council to think about heritage value to the nation. To do this what particular attributes or aspects of the the Council has established a number of development of the city are of potential parameters for its assessment. national heritage value.

The Council is currently assessing the two Canberra as a whole nominations and also taking into account The Council is taking a broad, overarching the recently received third Canberra approach to the assessment of the national heritage nomination, and heritage values of Canberra. It is looking at Lakeshore Parklands. Canberra:

th In comparison to Canberra’s existing national • as an outstanding example of 20 century heritage listed places which represent town planning particular individual or singular historical, • for it’s significance as the nation’s planned architectural, natural or social heritage, in capital city conceived at Federation and examining the Canberra nominations the the city’s development over 100 years of Council is looking to discover the wider town planning theory and thought and more complementary national heritage • as a landscape and expression of significance of Canberra. Australia’s democratic ideals.

6 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape The Canberra – Central National Area and Inner Hills nomination

The Canberra – Central National Area and Inner Hills nomination proposes a relatively constrained area that covers the inner historic area of central Canberra, including the Designated Areas comprising the Central National Area (excluding the Airport precinct) and the Inner Hills part of the National Capital Open Space System (the reserves associated with Black Mountain, Mt Ainslie, Red Hill, Isaacs Ridge, Mt Taylor and Mt ), and the inner garden city suburbs gazetted in 1928 (Barton, Ainslie, Braddon, Deakin, Forrest, Griffi th, Kingston, Reid, Turner and Yarralumla). It includes all land within these areas, including commercial and residential lands.

The nomination highlights Canberra’s signifi cance from its inception and early development and its representation as an outstanding achievement in town planning and social idealism of the early twentieth century. It also focuses on Canberra’s uniqueness and that it embodies contemporary town planning principles of the day that were the focus of national and international expert thought and practice. The proposed national heritage listing will not The natural landscape within and supersede, replace, or provide a dual listing around Canberra for Canberra’s existing national heritage Parts of the Inner Hills that form elements places but rather provide an umbrella under of the national capital open space system, which existing more detailed individual as defined in the National Capital Plan, are heritage listings can co-exist. critical components of the successive plans for Canberra, and have been major determinants of Canberra as a planned city the form and character of the city. The Council recognises that much of the The outer hills and mountain ranges, including significance of Canberra is related to its the Brindabella, Tidbinbilla and Bimberi Ranges establishment as Australia’s only consistently within Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla planned twentieth century capital city and Nature Reserve, provide the backdrop setting the ongoing management and development for Canberra. The proposed national heritage of the city through nearly a century of town values acknowledge the orientation of the Land planning theory and changing architectural Axis in the Griffin Plan towards Mt Bimberi and movements. This concept of the layering that distant vistas of the mountains provide of town planning during the course of the an important component in the outstanding twentieth century is central to the Council’s aesthetic experience of the city. assessment.

The Council acknowledges that the Griffin Plan was seminal to the establishment of Canberra, however the city envisaged by the Griffins was only partially realised and so cannot be listed as a place of national heritage significance. The Council however in its assessment recognises that the original Griffin Plan shaped and continues to influence the city of Canberra. It also acknowledges that the city owes it historical and present forms to a series of planning phases. The Council considers that the national heritage significance of Canberra likely relates to the evolved planned city. Rather than limiting the assessment to a cut-off date such as 1928, the assessment will cover Canberra’s development until 1988, when self- government split planning control between the Commonwealth and ACT governments.

1925 Gazetted Plan – Canberra

8 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape However it is not proposed to include these areas within the boundary of the Canberra assessment as it would unnecessarily duplicate the values of Namadgi National Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve as part of the Australian Alps National Parks and Reserves National Heritage listing without adding to The Canberra and Surrounding Areas the planning or democracy themes of this Nomination assesment. The Canberra and Surrounding Areas The Council also considers that while access nomination takes a broad view of what to a reliable water supply was a factor in should be included to represent the the selection of the site for the national planned city. It includes the component capital, much of the Murrumbidgee and of the Australian Alps National Parks and Corridors are not visible from Reserves National Heritage listing that Canberra and the river corridors do not have is within the ACT (ie Namadgi National outstanding heritage value to the nation in Park and Tidbinbilla Nature Reserve); their own right. the Murrumbidgee and Molonglo Rivers corridors; all land within the Designated What is the ‘place’ that is being Areas as defined in the National Capital assessed? Plan; the entire national capital open space system; the whole of central Canberra It is the central national area of Canberra, excluding Fyshwick and North Watson; the Land Axis and Water Axis, Lake Burley the idea of the metropolitan structure of Griffin, the layout of the early garden city Woden/Weston, , suburbs as defined in the 1925 Gazetted Plan, and ; the landscape context for the Y-Plan road system and the location of the the peripheral parkways and landscape new towns and the undeveloped inner hills corridors; and main avenues and approach that are reflected in the proposed Canberra routes. It excludes all land outside the public national heritage values. The place is not tied domain in the Designated Areas (ie excludes to particular buildings, road alignments or privately owned commercial and residential town centre layouts and buildings. land but includes features, parks or buildings Not wishing to duplicate existing national in government ownership) except in the case heritage listings in Canberra, only the heritage of some privately owned elements in the values of those places relevant to Canberra Garden City suburbs and in other prototype as a planned city and the seat of national suburbs in central Canberra planned government are looked at in this assessment. and established by subsequent planning agencies up to 1984.

9 THE HISTORY OF CANBERRA

The possible national heritage values of the city of Canberra lie in its history, development and evolution as Australia’s only planned city born out of the social, economic and political climate leading to Federation.

In taking this premise as part of its • desire not to have a port city that was assessment it is important to set out the vulnerable to foreign attack history of Canberra’s town planning and • need to have reliable land access to the explain how the city developed through the capital layering of different planning theories and movements since Federation. • location not to be flood prone • the need to have a reliable water supply Born out of Federation • desirability of leaving the final choice to The location of the new nation’s capital city the new federal parliament. was discussed at length during the series of colonial conferences and conventions leading The decisions about who would choose the up to Federation. As a result, a number of site where the capital could be, and the nature factors governing the location of the capital of its land tenure, were embodied in Section were identified: 125 of the new Commonwealth Constitution. • avoiding domination by either Sydney or Melbourne in a new nation • preference for a temperate rather than hot climate • desire not to have a port city that rivaled the established cities commercially

10 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape 11

Griffi n Plan 1911 Planning the new capital Over 130 entries were received from around – the competition Australia and the world. The Minister for Home Affairs King O’Malley followed The survey of the area to establish a suitable the majority view and announced Walter territorial border for the new capital was Burley Griffin as the winner of the design undertaken by Charles Scrivener in 1909. competition. Scrivener narrowed down the best location to the topographically interesting Canberra …unlike other competitors, the Griffins valley. The Canberra area was resumed by did not treat the Limestone Plains as a the Commonwealth in 1911, an international blank space, but responded sensitively competition for the design of the new capital to the natural features, integrating announced, and in 1913 the city site was topography into the design. The plan formally named ‘Canberra’. was skilfully adapted to an ‘irregular amphitheatre’ rather than arbitrarily The competition documentation included imposed on the site.6 Scrivener’s maps and panoramic paintings of the . The only spatial Griffin scholar Christopher Vernon directive in the competition conditions was considers that the Griffins’ design aimed to that the parliamentary building ‘should be so ‘monumentalise’ Canberra’s physical site in placed as to become a dominating feature order to create symbols of democratic ideals of the city’. The ‘panoramic value of the city for ‘an antipodean arcadia’. This was unlike the surrounds’ and the prospects for ‘ornamental subsequent plans for New Delhi and Brasilia. water’ were mentioned but were not specific ...the Griffins sought to obscure the requirements.4 The competition conditions distinction between architecture and indicate the level of planning guidance given nature. Today, Canberra’s monumentality to competitors: or civic grandeur is not endangered by the more familiar means of magnificent, ‘16. Town Planning.—The occasion for unified architectural ensembles. Instead, the design of the Federal Capital City of this quality is imparted by the almost the Commonwealth of Australia is unique ethereal omnipresence of the larger, in recent times, and it is expected that collective landscape.7 competitors will embody in their Designs all recent developments in the science The significance of Walter Burley Griffin’s of town planning. The Conference held design and Marion Mahoney Griffin’s under the auspices of the Royal Institute drawings for the competition is recognised of British Architects in October last, at by the inclusion of the 1911 drawings in which many authorities on the subject of town planning were present, must have a marked influence upon city Design from the utilitarian, the architectural, the 6 Freestone, R. 2010: 96, quoting the Report of the scientific, and the artistic stand-points.’5 Select Committe on the development of Canberra 1955: 80 4 Freestone, R. 2010: 96 7 Vernon, C. 2012: [unpublished] Canberra Town 5 Commonwealth of Australia (Competition conditions) 1911 Planning International Comparison Study: 11

12 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape UNESCO’s Australian Memory of the FCAC and being built by the FCC [from 1925 World register.8 onwards] was as much the Board’s 1913 plan as it was Griffin’s’.9 The government had allowed for the possibility that several designs may include The subdivision of suburbs planned on good ideas, and proceeded to direct a Board Garden City lines began in 1921 and was within the Department of Home Affairs to in full swing by 1925-26 with some suburbs prepare a plan for Canberra based on the (Reid, Braddon, Ainslie, Kingston, Forrest, best entries. This Board Plan was adopted by Barton) bearing the imprint of Griffin’s road the Fisher government in January 1913. system and others not. These suburbs mainly housed public servants while the worker Griffin objected to this process, and after population required to build Parliament House a change of government later that year, the and the other infrastructure of the new city new Minister invited Griffin to Australia to were mainly housed in temporary construction discuss the planning of the capital. Griffin camps. amended his plan slightly (the 1913 plan) and was subsequently appointed Federal Capital Director of Design and Construction in Expansion – moving beyond inner October 1913 to oversee the implementation Canberra of his plan. The Great Depression and the Second World War saw a slowdown in the development After the Griffins – planning for a of Canberra. The Federation Capital capital city Commission was abolished in 1930, and the planning and development of Canberra Walter Burley Griffin revised his plan again was brought back under the direct control of in 1918, but in 1921 his appointment was the Department of Works and Railways and terminated and the Federal Capital Advisory the Federal Capital Territory Branch of the Committee (FCAC) was created under John Department of Home Affairs. Sulman’s chairmanship. This was succeeded by the Federal Capital Commission in 1925, In 1938 the National Capital Planning and to guide future development. While the plan Development Committee was established as refined by Griffin in 1918 was adopted as the an advisory body. In 1943 the development basis for the layout of the 1925 Gazetted Plan, of Canberra as the national capital took on in reality the Federal Capital Commission new meaning when the first foreign embassy (FCC) only agreed to the skeleton of Griffin’s (United States of America) took up residence. proposed road layout. But overall development remained slow.

Author and Australian architect Paul Reid has commented that ‘the city planned by the

8 http://www.naa.gov.au/about-us/partnerships/unesco/ griffin-drawings.aspx 9 Reid, P. 2002: 182

13 In 1949, the first qualified town planner, Trevor serviced by a town centre, with an ultimate Gibson, was appointed to the Development population estimate of between 60,000 and Committee. The main revival of Canberra 100,000. Major traffic corridors ran through and reinvigoration of its development can gaps between settled areas, and the districts be dated from the prime ministership of Sir were separated by the open space of ridges Robert Menzies. Menzies took an interest in and hills which provided their landscape the capital in the mid-1950s, giving rise to the setting. This structure was detailed in the Senate Select Committee on the development Canberra Outline Plan in 1965, and was of Canberra and the creation of the National refined by a strategic plan that took into Capital Development Commission (NCDC) in account the realities of road traffic and 1957, and a report on the Canberra city plan planned a major linear arterial road network, by British planner Sir William Holford in the outlined in what became known as the same year.10 ‘Y-Plan’ in 1970.11

Holford dismissed the Griffins’ design approach, valuing only the concept of the lake, the axes and the central triangular road system. His recommendations, supplemented by advice from fellow British planner Gordon Stephenson and American engineer Alan Voorhees, meshed with NCDC planning for a car-based city into the late 1960s.

As the city was set to expand beyond the limits envisaged in Griffin’s plans, the NCDC developed a new metropolitan strategy. Rather than allow growth in concentric circles from the centre, or to allow it to straggle finger-like along existing transport corridors, as had occurred in other new cities, the NCDC adopted a new town approach, within a modern garden suburb style.

Clusters of 10 or more ‘neighbourhoods’ or suburbs surrounded town centres providing commercial, social and cultural services. Subdivision of Woden commenced in 1962, Belconnen followed in 1965, and Weston

Creek commenced in 1968. These new Peripheral parkway districts comprised a group of suburbs determined by primary school catchments, 11 Reid, P. 2002: 254, 258–263. Crocket et al 2006: 11–12. Quoting NCDC, 1965. The Future Canberra, 10 Reid, P. 2002: 223 and NCDC, 1970. Tomorrow’s Canberra

14 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape The Y-Plan The Y Plan embodied the principles of: • a new transport system for private vehicles on parkways on the periphery of urban districts, and along central spines between town centres • the hills and ridges to be retained in their natural state as a backdrop and setting for the city, and separating the new districts • new urban districts to be relatively self‑contained new towns • major national uses to be located in the Central National area • the National Capital to maintain high environmental standards.12

In 1984 the Y-Plan was confirmed in the Metropolitan Policy Plan/Development Plan as the basic planning structure for Canberra, offering dispersed employment and retail opportunities in the town centres. The zoning of the open space separating the town centre pattern was formalised as the national capital open space system, recognised as having national capital or regional significance. ‘To this end, the hills and ridges within and around the urban areas of Canberra are to be kept free of urban development, both to act as a backdrop and setting for the City and also to provide a means of separating and defining the towns’.13

The Y Plan

Modern Canberra is the result of ... layer upon layer of planning ... responding to the ideas and challenges of the day, and while the Griffin Plan in its purist original sense has not eventuated, the essential qualities of its conception have still shone through; and continue to be recognised and nurtured.14

12 Freestone, R. 2010: 159. Crocket et al 2006: 12-13 13 NCDC, 1984, Metropolitan Canberra: 1973, quoted in Crocket et al 2006: 13–14 14 Freestone, R. [unpublished] 2012 15 WHAT a NATIONAL HERITAGE LISTING OF CANBERRA WOULD MEAN

Once included on the National Heritage List, the national heritage values of Canberra would be afforded protection under national environment law.

Exclusion of private land and The proposed boundary map for the potential structures Canberra national heritage place sets out the area within which potential national heritage The proposed boundary of the national values lie. However, the proposed boundary heritage place – ‘Canberra the Planned may include areas or structures that are not National Capital’ does not include private associated with the heritage values of Canberra or commercial property outside the Central and are therefore not subject to approvals National Area and the Designated Areas relating to the proposed listed place. already under the planning control of the National Capital Authority (NCA). For example: • current controls and development approval One of the proposed values relates to processes will remain in place the adoption of the ‘Y-Plan’ for Canberra and the resultant establishment (but not • national heritage listing does not change the form) of decentralised town centres. land ownership or land use. Only the fact that town centres exist in their current locations would be protected, What is included in the proposed without any additional control over layout, National Heritage place? buildings or development proposals. The draft boundary map is available on the Australian Heritage Council’s website at www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/ national-assessments/canberra

16 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape Proposed management arrangements The purpose of the proposed national heritage listing of Canberra is to recognise and celebrate the city as one of the primary outcomes of Federation, for its role as the seat and symbol of Australian democracy, for its association with milestones in Australian history and for its nationally and internationally outstanding design and city planning over the course of nearly a century.

There is no intention to impose an additional layer of regulation on the city.

The Commonwealth Department of

Haig park Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities is holding ongoing Similarly, in the early garden suburbs only discussions with the ACT government and the the layout of the streets, the avenues of street NCA on possible management arrangements trees and the location of local parks would be to avoid any duplication of approval processes protected by a national heritage listing, not the between agencies, and make approval private properties. Heritage protection of the processes and approving agencies clear for architectural and landscape aspects of early Canberra residents and businesses. garden suburbs including individual street trees would continue to be managed by the ACT government or by the NCA.

There is likely to be minimal impact on business and residences in Canberra as illustrated in the similar 2008 national heritage listing of Adelaide Park Land and City Layout (an outstanding example of early 19th century town planning). In this case the national heritage values relate to the planning and layout of the street grid and squares within central Adelaide and the broad band of parkland that surrounds the city centre. The national heritage listing does not affect the form of the buildings and has not restricted or affected development within Adelaide’s CBD. The listing also does not duplicate the role of the South Australian state government and the Adelaide City Council in protecting Garden Suburb park and nature strips individual heritage properties within the area.

17 PUBLIC CONSULTATION

The Australian Heritage Council will undertake statutory consultation with owners and occupiers of properties within the proposed boundary of the Canberra national heritage place and with Indigenous people with rights or interests in the area.

This discussion paper forms part of the broader public information process.

If you wish to comment on the national heritage assessment of Canberra, written submissions can be sent to:

Canberra national heritage assessment Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities GPO Box 787 CANBERRA CITY ACT 2601 email: [email protected]

Written submissions should be received by 30th June 2012.

Further information on the progress of the heritage assessment and the forthcoming consultation process is available on the Australian Heritage Council’s website www.environment.gov.au/heritage/ahc/national-assessments/canberra

18 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape BIBLIOGRAPHY

City Futures Research Centre, 2007. Urban and town planning thematic heritage study. City Futures Research Centre, Faculty of the Built Environment, The University of New South Wales, for the Commonwealth Department of the Environment and Heritage. Commonwealth Government, 1911. Information, conditions and particulars for guidance in the preparation of competitive designs for the Federal Capital City of the Commonwealth of Australia. Government Printer of Victoria, Melbourne. Crocket, G. Wensing, E. and Wurst, I., 2006. Canberra’s National Planning Heritage. Paper prepared for the Eighth Australian Urban History Planning Conference, Wellington, New Zealand, February 2006. Shorter version published in Miller and Roche, eds. Proceedings of the 8th Australasian Urban History Planning Conference: 79-96. Fischer, K.F. 1984. Canberra, myths and models: forces at work in the formation of the Australian capital. Institute of Asian Affairs, Hamburg. Freestone, R. 2010. Urban nation: Australia’s planning heritage. CSIRO Publishing in association with the Department of the Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts and the Australian Heritage Council, Collingwood, Victoria. Freestone, R. 2010. Gordon Stephenson and the long term planning of Canberra. 14th IPS Conference. Urban Transformation: Controversies, Construction and Challenges. 2010 Istanbul. Gibson, T.R.S. 1951. Canberra today and tomorrow, The 1951 Federal Congress on Regional and Town Planning: record of proceedings. Town and Country Planning Institute of Australia, Planning Institute of Australia and Town and Planning Institute of South Australia. Lovell Chen Pty Ltd, with John Patrick Pty Ltd, Andrew Long & Associates, and Goulding Heritage Consulting, 2006. Nomination of Canberra to the National Heritage List; an examination of the merits. Draft report for the National Capital Authority. National Capital Authority, 2004. The Griffin Legacy: Canberra the Nation’s capital in the 21st Century. National Capital Authority, Canberra. National Capital Development Commission, 1965. The Future Canberra. NCDC. Canberra. Pearson, M. 2011. Assessment report for the nomination of Canberra to the National Heritage List, unpublished study for the Australian Heritage Council.

19 National Capital Development Commission, 1970. Tomorrow’s Canberra. NCDC. Canberra. National Capital Development Commission, 1984. Metropolitan Canberra, Policy Plan Development Plan. NCDC. Canberra. Pegrum, R. 1983. The Bush Capital; how Australia chose Canberra as its federal city. Hale and Iremonger, Sydney. Reid, P. 2002. Canberra following Griffin; a design ’s national capital. National Archives of Australia. Canberra. Reps, J.W. 1997. Canberra 1912: Plans and Planners of the Australian Capital Competition. Melbourne University Press, Melbourne. Royal Commission on Federal Capital Administration, 1917. Report of the Royal Commission on Federal Capital Administration, Government Printer of Victoria. Melbourne. Vernon, C. 2012. Canberra Town Planning International Comparison Study, unpublished study for the Australian Heritage Council. Weirick, J. 1988. The Griffins and modernism. Transition: Discourse on Architecture 24 (Autumn): 5-13.

20 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape Photo Credits FRONT PAGE National Library of Australia. Adam McGrath, Australian Capital Tourism. Parliament House flagpole. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Parliament House and school children. Australian Capital Tourism. View from Mt Ainslie. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Lake Burley Griffin. Australian Capital Tourism. Griffin Plan 1911. National Capital Authority. Old Parliament House. Steve Wray, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Garden suburb street scene. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Old Parliament House and hot air balloons. Australian Capital Tourism.

BACK COVER Lake Burley Griffin. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. 1925 Gazetted vPlan. National Capital Authority. . Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. National Gallery of Australia. Australian Capital Tourism Bike in autumn scene. John Baker, Australian Capital Tourism. Garden suburb street scene. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Parliament House from northern shore of Lake Burley Griffin. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Anzac Day scene. National Capital Authority. Pear sculpture at the National Gallery of Australia. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

21 INSIDE INFORMATION PAPER Contents page. National Library of Australia. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Page 1. Land axis and Parliament House. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities Page 2. Parliament House. Australian Capital Tourism Page 3. City boulevard (Commonwealth Avenue) looking towards City Hill. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 3. Lake Burley Griffin viewed along the water axis. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 3. Garden suburb landscape with inner hill backdrop. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 4. Griffin Plan 1911. Image supplied courtesy of the National Capital Authority. Page 5. Crowd attending the Apology to the Stolen Generation. Dragi Markovic, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 5. Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest. Image A7973, INT1205/3. National Archives of Australia. Page 6. Informal part of Lake Burley Griffin with associated parklands and Woden valley in the background. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 7. Parliament House along the land axis. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 8. City Hill and surrounding development in progress. National Capital Authority. Page 8. 1925 Gazetted Plan – Canberra. National Capital Authority. Page 9 National Museum of Australia with Black Mountain in the distance. Australian Capital Tourism Page 9. Weston Park and Woden valley in the background. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities.

22 | Celebrating Canberra: A nation’s cultural and democratic landscape Page 10. Parliament House down the land axis. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 11. Griffin Plan 1911. National Capital Authority. Page 12. Parliament House. Australian Capital Tourism Page 13. The land axis on. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 14. National Library of Australia on the foreshore of Lake Burley Griffin. Australian Capital Tourism Page 14. Peripheral parkway (Tuggeranong Parkway). Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 15. Y Plan 1970. National Capital Authority. Page 16. with forecourt water fountain. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 17. Haig Park. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 17. Garden suburb park and nature strips. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 18. Informal area of Lake Burley Griffin along the rowing course with scenic backdrop of mountain ranges. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 19. The land axis. Andrew Tatnell, Department of Sustainability, Environment, Water, Population and Communities. Page 20. Old Parliament House and hot air balloons. Image supplied courtesy of the National Capital Authority.

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