Archive for the Meetings Category

GCC Community Meeting

9 May 2018

Gungahlin Library

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Chair: Peter Elford (President).

Attendees: see attendance log

Agenda item 1: Update from Transport Canberra, Ben Hughes

Ben reported that the benefits will outweigh the pain of all the road and other construction.     As well as road works we are also completing the town centre network for future growth.

Gundaroo Drive

Work is extending from Gungahlin east.   We are constructing the bus station and the Light Rail, converting Hibberson St to a shared zone, upgrading Horse Park Drive and road-works on the Gungahlin East estates.

Questions from the Floor:

•     Will there be a new Park and Ride as well as a Drop-off Zone for the new Light Rail?  – There will be provision for pick up and set down in peak periods and the existing park and ride will be moved nearer to the terminus to support light rail as well.
•     Will it be only for people on the Light Rail and dedicated for whole day? Yes.   It will be enforced by active My Way card and permit for car (available on Transport Can web site).   But open for others outside of peak periods.

Gundaroo Drive is our most challenging project.   It is about 9 months behind schedule because it runs along a high pressure gas main requiring permission to change.   There was no space to move it so we had to dig and check the condition.   It was 20 years old and could have been corroded.   We couldn’t close the road completely to traffic. We plan to have all lanes open in a couple of months.   Also Maryborough drive and new traffic lights will be finished soon.

Questions from the Floor:

•     What caused rest of delay?  –  Change in the scope of work in 2016 election adding more traffic to increase capacity.   Also weather impacts 2017.   It made sense not to bring in second contractor.
•     Was it the same contractor who was given work at the Cotter?  –  Cannot confirm that.   We heard concerns from the community and brought in Work Safety to check the contractor.
•     Keeping work to local contractors adds to taxpayer costs.    Cannot comment on Government policy.   –  These are requirements for tender on our projects.
•     Are there penalties charged?   –  Yes.   There is local industry participation. Projects are open to general tender but not worth interstate companies coming in except for major projects like the Majura Parkway.   Scale determines what you get.
•     A small concrete strip holding up Southpark Driveway needs to be removed.    –  I have looked and it protects adjacent work.  It will be removed soon.
•     Also could pre -qualifications on road surfacing be aligned with interstate jobs?  –  I will take up with procurement agency.

Video re Stage 2 is online.   We  learnt from Stage 1 that having the contractor and the gas works carrying on at the same time increased risk.   Thus we are moving gasworks before Stage 2 commences.

Question from the Floor:

•     Why has Gundaroo Drive stopped short of the Crace roundabout?  –  It was a financial decision.   The extension to Cavanagh St has just started  Due for completion in late 2018.   Horse Park Drive will be completed in segments.

Majura Drive to the Federal Highway Interchange

This has been delayed due to the impact of acid sulphate leaching out of bedrock. People may have noticed orange stains.  When exposed it becomes an environmental risk.   Giant mattresses have been designed to protect the environment from the Federal highway through to O’Sullivans Creek. We had to demonstrate to EPA that we could manage the problem.    We now have approval.   Simply burying was too expensive so we are now capping.   Also using a layer of membrane.   This allows us to keep it as a shared path.   There is only one bridge over a creek thus allowing a shorter construction time.   No big gas mains in way.

Question from the Floor:

•     What of the old carriageway?   –   We are going to resurface it.

Horse Park Drive

The section to Mulligan’s Flat is making good progress.   We will soon switch traffic and work on new carriageway out past Katherine Ave West.   We are also improving pedestrian access round schools.  South of Valley Ave is proceeding including signals due to open about June.   We are making good progress

Question from the Floor:

•     Why not continue Cavalerie Way through to carry transit traffic?  –  The original plan included a heritage corridor there.  The edge road is only a service road.   Anthony Rolfe will provide for transit purposes.

Hibberson St Shared Zone

We took options to the community and there was a call to make it more attractive to pedestrians.   Being shared deters traffic in peak period but it is available to traffic in quiet times.  It provides more outdoor space for people.

Questions from the Floor:

•     The noise near the fencing is 100 decibels which is not good for my business or others in the area.   Is there any hope for compensation?   There is always a possibility by applying to the Government Solicitor’s Office but you’ll be asked to go through a process on a case-by-case basis.   The contractors are governed by EPA guidelines and can be inspected.   They may be told to change their practices e.g. do noisy work at night.   Happy to talk to you.  Every business is given a contact number.
•     Everyone is happy with the outcomes but there is a problem with quick parking at night Any chance of getting Woollies to keep their carpark open?    –  Yes we can follow that up for you.

Gungahlin Bus Station

It is partially open and operating.   Replacing old diesel buses with newer ones will improve things but for people living close by we have built a sound baffle.   Landscaping there to be finished in next few weeks.

Answers to Other questions from the Floor

•     Compensation to businesses (see above)
•     More specific details – To avoid too much specificity we are now reporting quarterly for more transparency and flexibility
•     Project contracts available on line
•     Space used for asbestos in past?   Will be building road over it
•     Will look at coordinating of signals but signals are last choice.   Roundabouts work better throughout day.

Agenda Item 2: Updates on other Gungahlin matters, Peter Elford

Gold Creek Country Club and Homestead

The Suburban Land Agency has issued a tender for sale of a large portion of the land in Ngunawal, which also contains the old homestead.   Inspection has revealed that the building is not as derelict as feared.    We are concerned as we have been informed that proposals for use of the land (i.e. bulldozing the heritage building) will not impact on choice of tender.   GCC is concerned to retain the site for public purposes.   Tenders close in June or July.   Lend Lease are interested in the site for an aged care facility.   That could work well in retaining the homestead as well.

Questions from the Floor:

•     Suburban Land Agency has ignored community responses before so maybe community action required.   –  We are trying to do so.   We want to retain old stone parts of the homestead and the gardens.   Anyone who has time to be a serious campaigner is welcome. People should speak to local member or minister.

Proposal for Tower Blocks on Gunderoo Drive.

The original proposal was for two towers but later extended to nine.  The GCC and local businesses campaigned against that.   The proposal has now been amended from 18 to 15 stories but has not been made available to the public.   We have concerns about transparency   and are waiting to hear about the process.

Questions from the Floor:

•     Do we have the names of the relevant bureaucrats?   –   It is better to target your local member rather than bureaucrats as they don’t have discretionary powers.   There is also the problem of keeping community informed ahead of time so they can have their say in a timely fashion.

New Bus Services and Light Rail

Gungahlin Community Council raised concerns in August 2017 re lack of access to buses in outlying area and asked how things will change with Light Rail. We were informed there was now a consultation process re the new system. Transport Canberra have completed stage 1 of the consultation re the Rapid Bus Services.   There were 628 responses of which 80% were public transport users.   The majority was willing to walk further for a rapid response.  Everyone wanted apps, preferably built into the existing apps.   There were still concerns re services to out-lying areas.   Stage 2 of the consultation will be launched in June with mud-maps of routes and where buses will intersect with the Light Rail.   All day access and school services will be part of the general service.   The goal is for no-one to walk more than 500m to a local service and 800m to the rapid service.

New routes for new suburbs and schools are planned and also inter-suburban links.   A handout is available.   The date for the next consultation is June 18.

Agenda Item 3: The Heart Foundation: Active Living Principles – Impact of Territory Plan Overview, Annie Kentwell and Colleagues

Why is the Heart Foundation interested in town planning?   The way we design and build will influence active living in a population?  We believe strategies for change should involve supportive environments for physical activity.    Our focus is on increasing incidental activity in our lives.    Living in a walkable neighbourhood with safe, attractive, supportive infrastructures promote health.  Gungahlin is a car-dominated environment compared to Canberra’s Inner North.  It lacks an urban environment that promotes active lifestyle of adults and children.

Questions from the Floor:

•     Things needed in Gungahlin are neighbourhood schools and local employment.   Gungahlin has no local employment at all –

A Call Centre is coming and also some ACT shared services including possibly, a small Federal  Government  Department.  The Light Rail is planning to have people standing on trains.   Unfortunately apartments are more profitable for developers and government offices.

The Canberra Territory Plan is the first in Australia to begin implementing into strategic town planning such things as:

Easy and safe access environments for all ages

High quality open space

Mixed use land density

Active travel

Attractive supportive infrastructure

Wider paths

•     We need to lobby harder to get more money spent on footpaths – as much as on roads – Although our goal is 7% active travel currently only 4%  is spent on footpaths.    Canberra has been built round car but there is a need to increase housing density.
•     There are no designated cycle-only paths – everything is mixed use except where legislated.
•     Cyclists still tend to dominate – pedestrians are in fact priority level 1.
•     Is there encouragement to grow fruit trees on footpaths –  you can do it anywhere  here and also food unless in a heritage precinct.
•     Long commutes are a problem for Gungahlin.   There is a lack of employment here – It is very important to lobby government re the need for local industry to promote active living.  Gungahlin has a specific problem in this regard.

Minutes taken by Andrew Braddock

GCC Community Meeting

14 March 2018

Gungahlin Library

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Chair: Peter Elford (President).

Attendees: see attendance log

Agenda Item 1: Active Canberra

David Geoffrey and Simon DeLacey from Active Canberra provided a presentation on the Existing and future provision of sporting infrastructure in Gungahlin which is available on the GG website.

Points of note included:

•         The pool has been a great success with ~356,000 visits in 2016/17
•         Active Canberra was now providing Community Recreation Parks (such as Crace, Franklin and Moncrief) which was replacing the model of neighbourhood ovals.
•         Expansion of indoor sporting facility at Amaroo school
•         Planned delivery of 6 rectangular fields in Taylor in 2019 which will include grass surface and playing lights
•         Currently progressing planning requirements for Throsby playing fields with preliminary design starting latter this year
•         Working with Tennis act to identify a suitable location for a 12 court facility including community activity hub
•         Now conducting a study into indoor recreation facilities in Gungahlin and Belconnen
•         The former Magnet mart facility is not suitable for indoor sports due to its design and construction.

Question or concerns raised from the floor

1.      A question was asked about the Park promised for Casey to which the meeting learnt this was promised in 2012, was not delivered in that term, was not promised again in 2016 and hence the promise had expired.
2.      A discussion on how the ACT does not enforce lease provisions on clubs that should be providing community facilities (eg Bowls greens) and promises are not being met. Instead the land is then used for other purposes (private residential, gaming etc).
3.      A question was asked about the proposed site for a bowls club in Casey.  The meeting learnt that Clubs ACT has indicated there may not be commercial imperative to drive such a development given declining bowls membership levels and that their traditional model is increasingly under challenge. Ainslie Group had announced that their plan to put two synthetic greens in the Gungahlin lakes club was on indefinite hold
4.      Whether the community areas were smoke free, highlighting the amount of butts at Moncrieff park – action to take away and investigate
5.      Whether Active Canberra is responsible for the BMX track on the corner of Mirrabei and Gundaroo.  No this facility was set up by sporting club and is more suitable for kids, not adults.
6.      The provision of quality space given the number of high developments in Precinct 2b.
7.      Whether it was possible to get better lighting around Yerrabi Pond – this is a TCCS responsibility

Agenda item 2: James Milligan MLA update

James verbally briefed on the major issues/concerns that have come through his office since elected in 2016.  These included:

Light rail stop in Mitchell – Mitchell contains 300 businesses and 4000 employees which does not include patronage from customers. Construction has had a big affect on businesses, 30-40% loss in trade. In NSW gov is offering financial reimbursement to businesses impact.  A petition had been put together by Mitchell traders association for a stop to be built in Mitchell as part of stage 1 which he supports.  Questioning how much extra would it cost to put it in as part of stage 1 or stage 2.

•         Survey on Moncrief on non-existing bus service –  He had received 100s of responses and known families concerned about their kids walking long distances to get buses in Ngunnawal. James noted that similar issues existed in other new suburbs and stated that it was a planning issue in buses only go down major arterial given suburban streets are quite narrow.
•         Palmerston businesses – Due to small number of car parks in school there existed parking issues during morning and afternoon pick up. Leading to illegal parking and parking in the supermarket car park.
•         Indoor sporting study – James noted that the promise was originally made in 2012 that would do study, that the same promise was made in 2016 and in 2018 still not completed.
•         Concerned about horse park drive in that doing federal section last. Government lost its way in proper planning and subject to quick cash grab.

Questions

1.      Mitchell stop – will increase cost of first stage. LR is going ahead but need to make sure meets community needs.
2.      Question about the Canberra Liberals commitment to Light Rail – We are accepting stage 1 is progressing. Stage 2 not finalised so can’t agree to this until business case is presented. But will ensure they advocate for community outcomes. Have good relationship with federal government and would advocate if it is in the community’s interests.
3.      Do you get a sense of community sentiment on the density of residential development? Received numerous feedback expressing concern about the number of people who will reside here (more than population of normal suburb) and infrastructure provision.
4.      Question about what the liberal solution is for schools for car parking. Not worthwhile building car parks for use only 1 hour per day.  Bottle shops have larger drive through than our schools.  Need to look at infrastructure, space available and land allocation.

James also promised to provide a list of expired promises to the GCC to help hold Government to account.

Agenda item 2: Meegan Fitzharris MLA update

Meegan provided a verbal brief based on points earlier raised and questions from the floor.  These included

•         Air towers Development Application – device from Environment Planning and Sustainability Directorate is the DA has not been approved or knocked back, and the developer is revising their plans.
•         Cinema – no update was available.
•         Bus services – ALP had committed 9 rapid services at last election and will deliver the remainder over the next year.  Where these have already been implemented patronage has increased. Consultation occurred last year for rapid services and consultation for remainder of network will occur in next 6-8 weeks. The proposed Tuggeranong express bus will be considered as part of the network redesign in 2018.  Third of Jacka has access to bus service on Roden Cutler drive.
•         School car parks – The Government encourages active travel over car access and the ACT was the only jurisdiction to see an increase in active transport. Continue to fund ride and walk to school program and introduced 20 school crossing supervisors. Have had really good feedback on these, increased confidence by parents. This is likely to increase the number of children walking and dispersed drop off/pick up.
•         The simultaneous Gungahlin roadworks – The Government did  conduct survey and about 70% of respondees said get on and do it.
•         Horse Park Drive duplication – Tender has been finalised and will be announced this. Reason the section near the Federal Highway was delayed is due to the fact that there was insufficient contractor capacity to do itthe entire road at once, the northern section was easier from a planning perspective and the Government has to make design changes in reason to acid sulphate soils in that section. Will take till 2019.
•         Cycle path along Horse Park drive section closest to Federal Highway. Questions whether minor work to widen verge or road side barriers could make it much more safely. – Meegan noted that widening would require significant, disruptive work that would only provide a path for a short period of time until the full duplication project commences.  Road side barriers can also create obstacles for cyclists.
•         Gundaroo drive – will open August
•         Provision of more frequent events in Gungahlin – Noted works for Celebrate Gungahlin Festival are underway
•         Traffic in town centre – The installation of traffic lights on Gizzard and Ernest Cavanagh St will significantly improve the flow of traffic around the town centre, since the impaired functionality of one intersection has a flow on affect to others.
•         Concerned that building of infrastructure had not kept up with population – Whilst Government did sell the land and approved the building of residential properties, the Government is also reliant on Australian Bureau of Statistics numbers which had been consistently behind.  The Chief Minister is taking this up with the ABS.
•         Light Rail Mitchell stop – Was identified as a potential stop during the planning process and the Government had attempted to engage with business in the area but there was not advocation for the stop during the planning process..  Given not all 26 potential stops could go ahead this did not make the final plan.  Given the nature of the contract which will be in place for 20 years, it is difficult to amend.  There will be other public transport services to Mitchell.
•         Light Rail construction – Had noted and is monitoring concerns from business about construction but notes that the business climate had also changed irrespective or Light Rail given recent openings in Franklin, Casey and others had led to more competition.
•         Question about additional park and ride in town centre – will shift towards light rail. All day parking on Anthony Rolfe and Hinder and also parking is often available at the oval.  There is no plans for additional Park and Ride parking.
•         Question on whether the Government is looking to update infrastructure in more established suburbs (eg Palmerston) – Yes they were, play grounds.
•         Street crossing on Valley Ave near leisure centre to allow Burgmann students to cross safely – Will look into
•         Safety of children in Gungahlin place playground – Given there is a barrier and 40km zone the Government is of the view that controls are sufficient.
•         Banning large trucks in Gungahlin during peak hours – Government does not have that level of control and would have significant flow on effects.

Minutes taken by Andrew Braddock

GCC Community Meeting

13 February 2018

Gungahlin Library

6:30 – 8:30 pm

Chair: Peter Elford (President).

Attendees: see attendance log

Agenda item 1: Housing choices

Alex Couch, Planning Policy Branch, Environment Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate provided a presentation (available on website).

The brief highlighted that apartments and detached residence dominate approvals; with duplexes and townhouses forming a missing middle to housing choices.  The Directorate has a discussion paper out for community engagement.  Engagement will also include a collaboration hub, in which 10,000 residents selected at random are invited to participate to discuss issue. Trying to find out what type of housing do people wat to live in.  The RZ1 question is quite modest with questions about dual occupancy and individual title.

Questions/concerns raised during the meeting included:

•         One participant asked about the involvement of non-governmental organisations such as Northside, to which Alex stated they were consulting regularly.
•         Given 50% of housing in future will be under strata the Owners Corporation Network will need to be involved.
•         Will after this round will land blacks be made smaller and hence the backyard disappear – May be not much change required to Gungahlin.
•         Manage the parking aspect? On street? Do we strengthen other controls to make up.
•         Higher rates on properties

Agenda item 2. Owners Corporation Network,

Gary Petherbridge, ACT President, provided a verbal brief with the following key points

OCN covers Strata title support to duplexes to 28 stories, anywhere where a group of dwellings shared common property.  In the future 50% of dwellings will be strata.

Gary emphasised the following points:

•         The Government was encouraging people to move towards strata, however the recent changes to rates calculations have had a significant impact. The changes excludes people from the 4 tiers that are initially used to calculate rates. Hence all bits automatically are in the top tiers. Given approximately 60% of strata units are rentals – cost of rates and land tax are adding to extra cost and putting pressure on amount of rental accommodation.
•         Government hasn’t been that good at enforcing developers to build quality with modern properties often having defects. Builders go bust or disappear so owners corporations have to meet the costs.
•         OCN provides training, advice, guides about strata.
•         Missing piece of legislation is to adequately cover mixed use.

Agenda item 3. ACT climate strategy – towards Zero emissions

Catherine Keirnan, and Joel Hankinson, Climate Change and sustainability, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development Directorate provided a presentation (available via website). So far ACT has focused on its 40% reduction by 2020 target but now needs to look towards the net zero emissions by 2050.  The ACT has picked low hanging fruit. Areas requiring further action include:

•         Transport – through electric cars, leveraging active travel)
•         Natural gas (heating and cooking) – one possible option includes pushing hydrogen into the grid.
•         Landfill gases – need to view waste as a resource

The Government is seeking people to participate in the community engagement. Question from the floor:

•         About reality of climate change and impact of renewables on cost of electricity.
•         Concerns about the disposal method for batteries/cars.
•         Requirement for Ministers of Transport and Planning to be on board.

Agenda item 4. Community Engagement, Suzanne Orr, MLA

Suzanne provided a brief on her engagement with the community on the quality of building construction in Gungahlin.  She has done an online survey, door knocking, and an article in the-riot act.  Discover a lot of issues are in multi-unit dwellings. Main issues were during the waterproofing process and difficulties in rectifying defects.  Government was:

•         Developing a building audit and inspection program.
•         Establishing a panel of independent auditors to conduct mandatory audits.

There was variability in terms of the quality of builders. Unfortunately rectification is a litigation heavy process. Regulations have also focused on structure, work has not started around quality.

Questions from the floor

•         Individual when building does it once and hence is not in a strong position. Privatisation of inspections was disaster, need inspectors from government
•         Concerns about Esque where companies can go bankrupt with no protections. Looking carefully at Phoenixing of companies
•         Buses from Moncrief – ongoing conversations with Transport Minister – looking into context of light rail.  Will encourage everyone to provide feedback in next round of consultation for buses to suburban areas.
•         Certification process – has been quite paper based, has not actually been visually verified.

Suzanne confirmed that personal information gathered only for the purposes of this survey.

Apologies – Meegan Fitzharris and James Milligan

Minutes taken by Andrew Braddock

Gungahlin Community Council Annual General Meeting – 11 October 2017

Meeting Details

Commenced 6.32pm – 15  people in attendance – Chaired by Peter Elford.

Minutes of Previous Meeting

The minutes of the previous AGM 14 December 2016 were accepted.

Moved John Phippen, seconded by Mark Scarborough

Presidents Report

GCC President’s report 2016-17 was tabled and read. See attached

Moved Henley Samuels seconded by Kevin Cox to accept the President’s Report

Treasurers Report

Treasurer’s report was tabled and a summary given. See attached

Moved Kevin Cox seconded by Henley Samuels to accept the Treasurer’s report

President stood down and the Public Officer Kevin Cox took the chair.

Election of Office Bearers

All positions were declared vacant. Written nominations were tabled for President, Vice President, Public Officer, Treasurer, Secretary, 2 Committee members.

Outcomes of the election of the committee

• President – Peter Elford;
• Vice President – Henley Samuel;
• Public Officer – Kevin Cox;
• Treasurer – David Pollard;
• Secretary – Andrew Braddock;
• General Committee – Prasad Tipirnen, Luke Hadfield

President took the Chair

General Business

There being no other business the meeting was declared closed at 6:50