ACT Division Planning Institute of Australia 11 National Circuit Barton ACT 2600

27 April 2018

City & Gateway Draft Urban Design Framework Environment, Planning & Sustainable Development Directorate PO Box 158 CANBERRA ACT 2601

Email: [email protected]

Subject: PIA submission on the draft City and Gateway Urban Design Framework

The Planning Institute of Australia (PIA) is the national association representing professional town planners throughout Australia and has a total membership of about 5,300, together with over 4,000 other planners who participate in PIA’s professional development program. The ACT Division of the Planning Institute of Australia, (PIA ACT) is led by a committee of members who voluntarily help advance the planning profession in the ACT.

We commend the ACT Government for working jointly with the NCA to create an agreed urban design framework (the Framework) that sets the principles for development and growth in the city centre and along the gateway corridor of the Northbourne Avenue corridor and Federal Highway. PIA believes that there should be refinements and additions to the Framework outlined below and that in some areas it should be bolder in taking a ‘people first’ approach.

Once refined we ask that the ACT Government look to act decisively to enact some of the these requirements into statutory controls given that the “horse has already bolted” with the development of light rail, public housing renewal and redevelopment of numerous sites along Northbourne Avenue outside any refreshed planning and design controls.

We strongly encourage both the ACT Government and the NCA to consider implementing the Framework in a streamlined fashion as this will require changes to the planning provisions along the corridor. The dual planning controls of the National Capital Plan and Territory Plan require changes to ensure they are consistent in accordance with the Planning and Development Act.

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Need for an integrated and coherent policy approach

There is a need to provide greater clarity on how the land release program and urban design framework will sit alongside the proposed sustainability strategy as well as the landscape master plan for Northbourne Avenue so that there is a coherent and integrated policy framework for the corridor. Great care will need to be taken to avoid inconsistency between these important initiatives.

While there will be an increase in capacity to accommodate growth in the corridor a significant proportion of these sites are controlled by the private sector and it is unlikely that this capacity will be fully utilised in the medium term. It is important for the city that there is still a balanced release of sites on the north and south side of the city so that the business case for future extensions of the light rail network is supported by the land release program, south side land releases and increases in capacity along the north south spine of metropolitan Canberra.

Canberra’s metropolitan structure

Canberra’s structure of town centres arranged in linear form connected by a public transport spine and framed by peripheral parkways is a robust structure for accommodating and consolidating growth along the spine. In line with international best practice the introduction of light rail should coincide with creating a more pedestrian orientated and civic transit spine. Light rail complements higher density and pedestrian oriented environments while providing for considerable increases in capacity for moving people. In tandem with the roll out of light rail, higher speed vehicular through traffic should be directed to the peripheral parkway network.

Northbourne Avenue as a multi-modal boulevard

The introduction of light rail is a game changer for Canberra. It reflects a global shift where public investment is moving away from highways and sprawl and into transit and cities. The role of design is shifting from building bigger roads to making streets that support quality places. Recent international publications such as the NACTO, Global Street Design Guide provides a best practice guide that is relevant to Canberra at this stage in its development. The guide is based on the principle that streets are public spaces for people as well as corridors for movement, marking a shift away from a functional classification of streets categorised only according to their ability to move traffic and provide vehicular access. Instead, it embraces an approach based on local context, the needs of multiple users, and larger social, economic, and environmental goals.

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Car oriented vs Multi modal street (NACTO – Global Street Design Guide)

Northbourne Avenue has multiple wide lanes for traffic integrated with buses, which dominate and divide the corridor. There is relatively little room for pedestrians and a lack of protection for bicycles. Northbourne Avenue can be transformed from a vehicular dominated space into a great urban space - a public space for people as well as corridor for movement and a safe, attractive and economically vibrant place.

Currently Northbourne Avenue carries in the order of 3,500 people per hour in the AM peak. Light rail will in the short to medium term move 5,000 people per hour with the capacity to move in the order of 8-10,000 people per hour in the longer term. The introduction of light rail provides the opportunity to transform the corridor into a high quality multi-modal corridor with improved active travel choices, better amenity and balanced growth of jobs and housing. In the short term light rail will provide approximately a two and half fold increase in the capacity for moving people – supplanting the need for increased vehicular capacity along the corridor. This lays the foundation for the sustainable transformation of the corridor as Canberra grows over the coming decades.

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As a multi-modal boulevard Northbourne Avenue should:

• Serve more people; • Move more people; • Be accessible to more people; • Support more local business; and • Be more environmentally sustainable.

A bolder ‘people first’ approach is needed

The removal of bus routes and stops along the avenue will have the effect of significantly increasing the capacity for vehicular traffic. This will potentially attract more cars into the corridor, which will in turn undermine the attractiveness and viability of light rail.

From this perspective the approach taken in the City and Gateway Urban Design Framework should be bolder to support a people first approach to the corridor. Retaining 3 vehicular lanes in each direction (even in the short term) and not taking the opportunity to narrow the Northbourne Avenue median (even from 29m to 22m) and widen the verge is a major lost opportunity for sustainable transformation of the corridor. It retains the dominance of cars over other modes and results in a suboptimal verge width for pedestrians and protected cycle path, particularly south of Barry Drive. The retention of left turn slip lanes at key intersections will further reinforce this dominance to the detriment of pedestrians and cyclists.

PIA believes that with the dramatic increase in capacity for moving people along the corridor with light rail represents the best time to introduce a slower speed environment with a reduced the number of vehicular lanes. The disruption caused by the current construction also makes it a better time to introduce change. This could be trialled by simple line marking to have immediate impact. Evidence demonstrates that cities can adjust to disruption quickly - the dismantling of motorways in Portland, San Francisco, Seoul, Vancouver and the closure of Swanston Street in Melbourne are compelling examples of this.

In light of this PIA recommends the following cross section or similar (illustrated below), between Antill/Mouat Streets and London Circuit, be implemented when light rail services commence: • A cross section that provides for 2 lanes in both directions; • Vehicular set-down and bike and Vespa parking within bays separated by avenue planting (see example of Boulevarde Jourdan in Paris below); • A protected cycle lane in both directions; • Vehicular set-down lane converting to left hand turn lane at intersections (rather than left hand slip lanes)

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2 lane cross section with protected cycle lanes and vehicle set down – Northbourne Avenue from Antill Street to London Circuit (WBB – Northbourne Plaza concept)

Boulevard Jourdan- Paris

Such a cross section will retain good intersection capacity (2 through lanes, 1 left turn lane and potential right turn lane) in both directions while creating a slower speed environment, and enhanced pedestrian and cycling environment.

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PIA is aware of recent work undertaken, referred to in a brief for the Northbourne Avenue Landscape Master Plan, which proposes the bicycle path to be lifted to verge level with left hand slip lanes impacting on the bike lane and the overall formality and geometric precision of the avenue. The recommended PIA cross section above proposes a solution where bicycle path is coincident with the vehicle lanes and a lane for set down converts to a turning lane at the intersection.

Vehicular access to properties

One of the major challenges for Northbourne Avenue occurs where properties rely solely on portes-cochere for access. PIA strongly supports the prohibition of portes-cochere but recognise that there is a need to provide for set down and access where alternative addresses are not available. The PIA recommended cross section above addresses the provision of street set-down to replace portes-cochere.

The redevelopment of properties also provides the opportunity to consolidate driveways and to reduce the impact on pedestrians and cyclists of vehicular access to properties fronting the avenue, particularly when these properties only have access to Northbourne Avenue. Ground floor levels will also need to be stipulated to ensure that the verge and setback zones are reasonably contiguous with an integrated design that treated the verge and setback zone as a unified pedestrian domain.

There are good examples of portes-cochere being replaced by a single driveway and a vehicular set down that runs perpendicular to the avenue and behind the building setback. (e.g. Hyatt hotel in George Street, Sydney).

Vehicle setdown – perpendicular to the street and behind the building line

(Hyatt Hotel – George Street, Sydney)

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Enhancement to Sullivans Creek and Haig Park

With the increase in density and the number of apartments within the corridor both Sullivans Creek and Haig Park will increasingly need to become the ‘living room’ of the corridor. These parkland areas are major metropolitan and inner north Canberra assets, the significance of which will increase dramatically over the coming decades. There needs to be a commensurate enhancement to these parklands and naturalisation of the drainage systems in tandem with the increase in density. Hypothecation of ‘betterment’ is justified due to the nexus between an increase in density, the demand for active and passive recreation and the proximity to these major open space assets.

Approach to the National Capital, set back and building height

While the strategic urban design intent of a progression from rural to urban and informality to formality is generally supported, there is a risk of an over formulaic and rigid approach that compromises diversity, climate responsiveness, urbanity and delight. We would prefer an approach that achieves the general policy intent but in a less rigid way.

PIA is not convinced that a fixation on a height in metres will deliver good climate responsive and diverse urbanism.

An approach that works within the general policy intent but that also rewards design excellence, green design, diversity in building type and housing mix would be a preferred approach. For larger sites with broad frontage to the avenue perhaps an average height or number of storeys that allows heights to vary (e.g. from 4-10 or 12 storeys) would allow more climate responsive and diverse urbanism with more north facing apartments, green roof terraces, town houses and walk-up apartments with individual entrances and ‘stoop’ front gardens. It would also deliver distinctive silhouette rather than a rigid parapet height. A plot ratio and site coverage may be required but this should be tested before being adopted. Such an approach would require a more discretionary regulatory system supported by a design review panel.

Where public benefit (e.g. provision of affordable housing or community facility or design excellence) is rewarded by an increase in floor space this should not be subject to an increase in Lease Variation Charge. PIA recommends that State Environmental Planning Policy (SEPP) 65 and the Apartment Design Guide be adapted and adopted for use along the corridor. It is a tested and coherent policy approach that has dramatically improved the quality of higher density apartment and mixed use developments in Sydney and throughout NSW.

Urban design guidance

The approach of specifying intent, establishing design criteria is supported. While saying this, there is a need to provide greater guidance with much greater use of diagrams to illustrate intent and criteria is required. SEPP 65 and the Apartment Design Guideline should be used as a potential model.

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Strategic transport network

The network diagram is an important diagram. It is a bit enigmatic and would be stronger if it was drawn over the actual geometry of the street grid.

PIA recommends the immediate development of the Garden City Cycle Route to complement the successful Sullivan’s Creek Cycle Route to enable greater use of active travel.

Further information on car parking provisions, such as maximum parking standards, which are instrumental in achieving mode shift to meet ACT Government ambitions to be Australia’s walking and cycling capital and to have 7% of people cycling to work and 7% of people walking to work by 2026.

More detailed information is required on how active travel streets running parallel to Northbourne Avenue will be protected as shared spaces with the potential increase of traffic movements on the streets running adjacent to Northbourne, due to increased residential populations and basement car parking ingress and egress at these sites.

Strategic walking network

PIA strongly supports initiatives to deliver a great walking city, the intent and design criteria are really important steps forward (pun intended). PIA would strongly support a 40kph maximum car speed for all streets in the corridor. Ideally a slowed Northbourne Avenue would have a maximum speed of 40 kph in the City and 50 kph north of Barry Drive.

Affordable housing

There needs to be a specific policy aimed at ensuring affordable housing is retained in this corridor, due to the proximity to employment, public transport, facilities and services essential to low income and unemployed people. The Framework should reference this policy and include measures to provide for diverse housing types and affordable housing.

Mixed use

There need to be provisions which positively discriminate to ensure mixed use including offices, SOHO (Small Office Home Office), specialty and convenience retail, community facilities and cultural uses. Robust ground and first floors of buildings that provide for change of use over time is critical.

Environmental sustainability, green infrastructure and green grid/canopy cover

It is important that the Framework works with the proposed Sustainability Strategy and the Landscape Master Plan to provide support for green infrastructure i.e. Water Sensitive Urban Design (WSUD), distributed energy, waste systems, biophylic urbanism. Targets and

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KPIs should be developed which measure things such as energy use, canopy cover, microclimate and ‘felt temperature’, water use, water quality and air quality, noise levels as well as use of public space, footfall and active travel.

Other matters

Overall the high level ambitions articulate in the City & Gateway Draft Urban Design Framework are commendable, but need to be supported by enforceable controls that ensure these intentions are realised.

PIA recommends that this approach be continued for stage 2 light rail corridor and ensure that all planning controls including urban design guidelines, zoning and plan amendments occur in a timely manner in advance of major transport infrastructure being installed to fully capture the benefits of urban renewal that it will instigate.

PIA strongly support both levels of government adequately resourcing and prioritising initiatives such as this to ensure they are released in a timely manner in advance of major investment in infrastructure.

Thank you for providing the opportunity to comment on the draft City and Gateway Urban Design Framework. If you have any queries regarding matters raised in this submission please do hesitate to contact Ian Wood-Bradley on 0409 512 213.

Yours sincerely

Karen Wright President PIA ACT

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