West Basin Parkland to Be Taken for a Building Estate
Lake Burley Griffin Guardians -
February 8, 2016
Apartment and promenade development is within the red lines and a proposed aquatic centre is to the left (image base from the City to the Lake) proposal
The ACT Government is planning to develop nearly all the space of West Basin parkland in its City to the Lake proposal commencing next financial year.
The symbolic route to Australia’s Parliament along Commonwealth Avenue will be adversely impacted by buildings of 6-8 storeys blocking vistas across the lake to the hills and mountain ranges.
The proposal will appropriate important public parkland space for a privately owned high rise building estate (refer image above). West Basin is needed as lake parkland for future Canberrans.
The public promenade to be constructed against the lakeshore partly in the lake and partly on infill will in no way compensate for the loss of public open space gone forever.
The developments will adversely change the physical image of Canberra’s lake centre-piece with a high-rise estate of privately owned buildings, isolated from the existing City. The City has organically expanded north and is set to expand east along Constitution Avenue.
The shallow waters of West Basin do not have adequate through flow to disperse polluting run off and it is unlikely that token macrophyte gardens will trap and filter pollution.
Although an excessive parking area is not desirable, some parking for visitors and for events at Commonwealth Park such as Floriade will be needed.
There has been little communication with the broader public about the West Basin proposal and the loss of public lakeshore land.
The buildings along Commonwealth Avenue of 6-8 levels (up to twice as high as the Westside Acton) will block the vistas across the basin to the mountains and hills beyond. (Screen shot from the City to the Lake proposal)The image above shows the proposed squares of private buildings with their central private green spaces giving strata title holders far more only open green space than what is left for public use in the narrow strip named Point Park near Commonwealth Bridge. The exposed promenades in the water, hot in summer and cold in winter are no compensation for loss of public parkland. Image from Draft Strategic Urban Design Framework June 2015, p2)
