Our present government under the strongly pro-development Chief Minister, Andrew Barr, is on full throttle with its "Northbourne Reborn" (July 22, p1). Northbourne Avenue isn't the only development site, of course. New suburbs are spreading south and north-west where the Riverview development will straddle the border with NSW, introducing all sorts of planning complexities.
Approval by the ACT government for the current buffer zone area west of Belconnen to be rezoned for urban development ("Nod for 6500 new homes", July 23, p1) opens the way for urban development to extend across the border into NSW. Surrounded by the Murrumbidgee River gorge and the Ginninderra Creek gorge, this section of NSW is totally inaccessible from NSW.
Professor Jenny Stewart is a visiting
fellow in the School of Business,
University of NSW Canberra.
One of the great joys of living in Canberra is its setting. Most of us are familiar with the blue silhouette of the Brindabellas. But equally important are the ridgelines and wooded slopes of the National Capital Open Space System and, to the west and south-west of the city, the varied scenery of farms and rural properties.
25 July 2016: Clare Sibthorpe
The first suburbs for the West Belconnen and Parkwood development will be named Macnamara and Strathnairn, after a pioneering medical scientist and a historic local homestead.
The development of up to 6500 homes in West Belconnen was confirmed on Friday by ACT Planning Minister Mick Gentleman, stretches across the territory's border into NSW. The approval is a win for developers, but does raise questions about the future of one of the territory's most spectacular natural wonders, Ginninderra Falls.
The plan includes a 360-hectare nature reserve along the Murrumbidgee River and the possibility of another 220-hectare conservation corridor being developed in NSW immediately adjacent to the territory's border.
by Emma Kelly
A map of the future development at West Belconnen. Photo: Supplied
The development of close to 6500 homes plus a 360-hectare nature reserve will go ahead at West Belconnen, ACT Minister for Planning Mick Gentleman announced on Friday.
Canberra Times Editorial 31 May 2016
In what many people will regard as a welcome display of independence and autonomy, the Commissioner for Sustainability and the Environment this week queried the legitimacy of the government's public consultations over a proposed development along the Murrumbidgee river corridor.
Ginninderra Falls owner, Anna Hyles, is fed up with the swarm of teenagers trespassing on her property and is worried more people will hurt themselves.Photo: Jamila Toderas
ACT Fire and Rescue crews work to rescue a 17-year-old boy at Ginninderra Falls. Photo: Melissa Adams A teenage boy was injured but lucky to be alive after he slipped on mossy rocks and fell 15 metres at Ginninderra Falls, north of Canberra, on Sunday.