Category: Curtin

Comments called for north Curtin residential development

The ACT government has a call for comments on its Your Say site
on the proposal to develop 1,300 dwellings on its part of the north Curtin horse paddocks site.
The larger part of the site is reserved for future diplomatic estate to be planned by the National Capital Authority.

Comments close on 11 June. See the Your Say website for details.

Chris Johnson presented a summary of the main issues (PDF) at the WVCC meeting on Weds 1 May.

The Government says it wants to hear about

  • The variety and size of housing types
  • Type and scale of public open spaces
  • Landscape design options
  • Opportunities for supporting land uses within the residential area, such as cafes, small scale retail and community facilities
  • Planning for sustainability and climate resilience
  • Transport and access

but the survey restricts you to multiple choice replies on some of these.

Our quick summary response

  • This proposal is for very dense housing: it packs the population of a suburb into a small area
  • It needs to be planned as a new suburb, not as an extension that depends on existing services
  • The light rail as it is being planned does not provide any service to this development

See the pdf link above for our comments on

Numbers • Transport • Education • Green environment • Housing types

and see this our media release calling for a pause in the call for comments until more information is provided

MEDIA RELEASE North Curtin 3 times as dense as Singapore with no facilities

Public Meeting 18 February 2024: dementia village and election issues

Woden Uniting Church Hall     3pm Sunday 18 February

For members and the general community:
the Curtin Residents Association ran a public community meeting on Sunday 18th February
at the Woden Uniting Church hall on Gillies St.

for everyone interested in the ongoing development of Curtin and its services and infrastructure.
There were two topics:

1. The proposed village-style dementia facility to be built at the old North Curtin Primary School site on Carruthers St (where the Emergency Services Agency was based).
The Suburban Land Agency is handling the tender process for the development. The SLA was be at our meeting to present information on the development and their progress with community consultation.

2. Ideas ahead of the 2024 ACT elections: we want to hear what issues you suggest the CRA should advocate to candidates in this 2024 election year.

Copies of the presentations at Public Meeting and AGM 26 Nov 2023

Here are the slide shows that were presented at the public meeting and AGM on 26 November 2023 in PDF.

This includes

 

CRA submission to government on Demolition proposal for North Curtin Primary School site

The Residents Association has made a submission of comments on the Development Application (DA) for demolition of the North Curtin Primary School buildings, ahead of intended redevelopment as a village style residential dementia care facility.
Follow this link for the full 3 page submission in PDF CRA Representation DA202341633.

Here is a summary:

The primary area of concern is tree protection and preservation. Traffic management is also a concern.

The critical importance of tree protection and preservation

Protecting and preserving the existing trees on the site is critically important for two reasons:

(1) mitigating the urban heat island effect because of its adverse impact on the health and well-being of future elderly residents and (2) meeting the ACT Government’s objective of protecting and enhancing habitat in the ACT’s blue-green network.

Improving proposed actions to protect and preserve trees

The proposed actions proposed in the development application to protect and preserve trees are generally good; however, some improvements are necessary to (1) increase the protection of trees from damage during the demolition process and (2) increase the number of existing trees retained.

Traffic management

Effective and safe traffic management for streets adjacent to the site will be crucial.

While Carruthers St is a secondary route with a wide carriageway, Storey, Jenkins and Prendergast Streets are narrow. They do not have footpaths. Storey Street is a cul de sac. Consequently, they are not suitable for large or heavy vehicles.

General meeting on Curtin Planning – Sunday 3 December 2017

The Curtin Residents Association will hold a meeting on 3 December to talk about recent planning developments for Curtin. The ACT Government Directorate of Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development has been running an invited Community Panel to work towards a finalised Curtin Centre Master Plan, bringing together community, planning  and developers’ ideas.

The meeting is at St James Uniting Church, Gillies St Curtin
at 2.30pm on Sunday 3 December.  Members and interested residents are welcome.

For members the Annual General Meeting is at 2pm (financial report and election of new committee).

Here’s a copy of the November newsletter Newsletter Curtin Residents Assn 14Nov17

First Curtin Autumn Fair Saturday 6 May

The first Curtin Autumn Fair will be held on Saturday 6 May, 10am to 2pm in Curtin Square. The Fair will celebrate and build Curtin’s community spirit that was seen so strongly in action over summer.
This is the first Autumn Fair to be held in Curtin, and we plan that it will be an annual event.
There will be stalls as fundraisers for community organisations, craft demonstrations, information tables for local groups, buskers and a barbecue. Children will enjoy the interactive art adventures and storytelling. The Canberra and District Historical Society will hold their open day outside their resource centre at Curtin centre, as part of the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival.
The response from local businesses has been overwhelming, with many supporting and sponsoring the Fair.
The Fair is being organised by a subcommittee of the Curtin Residents Association. The Fair will be inclusive and non-political.

Curtin Square planning petition signed by 22% of Curtin

The Association’s petition to the legislative assembly asking that the Minister stick to the building heights in the draft Master Plan, of 2 storeys in the square and 4 outside it – it’s attracted over 847 signatures from adults living in Curtin. The population of Curtin is approx 5,175 [2011 census, according to Wikipedia] of all ages. Around 25% are under 18 (ACT distribution) leaving a candidate population of 75% of 5175=3881.
This means that 22% of the Curtin population have signed on.

This is incredibly high. It shows that the Curtin community is clearly together on this.

The Curtin signatures are 62% of the total. Another 20% come from in the rest of the group centre catchment of 5 suburbs: Lyons, Hughes, Deakin, Yarralumla and Garran. This amounts to 9.3% of the adults in this wider area.

 

Curtin Place Development – on the radio and print media

Our concern about the Curtin Place development proposal was featured in the Canberra Times on Wednesday 11 January:  Curtin Call to Reduce Size of Development

and in the CT editorial on Thursday 12 January: Curtin Shops Proposal the Canary in the Coalmine (Destroying Canberra in to Save it?)

The Rally is reported in the Canberra Times 21 January: Curtin says no to high rise development

and in The Chronicle/Queanbeyan Age 24 January, p.4: Shops Saga Continues.

and there’s more recently: the Toilets Story in the Chronicle Tuesday 1 February

and the Canberra Times Thursday 2 February,  Curtin Developers Deny Hardball Tactics in Threat to Hoard Up Shops.

The EPSD is considering all the objections to the development application: in the Canberra Times, Environment, Planning and Sustainable Development director-general Dorte Ekelund set to leave  CT 2 February.

‘One of the incendiary issues around planning is public consultation on development proposals and whether it makes any difference.

Ms Ekelund is adamant it can.

“We’ve got such a well-educated and engaged community and planning is an innately political thing, because it’s about our democracy, it’s about how change occurs in the environment and there is always going to be people who are for something and people who are against something,” she said.

“The community knows a lot of stuff that our technical people might not be so close to, so consultation is really part of the planning process.

With the Curtin shops masterplan the latest planning battleground, Ms Ekelund said the proposal, including a six-storey building, was still a draft and there was still a development application to consider.

“There’s still a requirement to consider how the proposal fits into the context and how it contributes to the amenity and character of the area, so it’s still a matter we need to consider,” she said.’

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Radio interviews on Wednesday morning 11 January on 2CA 1206 (no link) and again later day; and
on ABC local radio Canberra (previously known as 666) Stoush over Curtin shops development heights

Several letters have also been published in the Canberra Times

  • Disaster in Curtin (Scott Humphries, letters, Jan 5) The Curtin shops proposal makes no attempt to respond to existing character, and it will overshadow and dominate the public square.
  • Six storeys are an unwelcome development for area’s amenity (Peter Graves, letters, Jan 12)
  • Adjust the height (Jeremy McGrane,  letters, Jan 13)
  • Consultation? Don’t Ask (Penny Moyes, letters Jan 16). “This is what you’re going to get unless you scream“
  • Public ignored on high-rise (Chris Emery)  and  Barr stays silent (John Mungoven) (letters Jan 17) The ABC flats redevelopment, and “a deep concern in our community about the direction, scale and frenetic pace of building development, planing issues and community consultation”.
  • The real stakeholders (untitled online) (Chris Johnson) and Disease Taking Hold , (Murray May)  (letters Jan 20)
  • On submission roundabout (David Biles) letters Jan 29
  • Development application stress could bring down the curtain (Peter Graves) letters Jan 31
  • Curtin clash (Howard Carew, Peter Graves) letters Feb 2/3

Rally – 11am Saturday 21st January in Curtin Square

Please Walk or Bike to the rally  if you can – parking is always tight, and will be very challenged on Saturday.

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Save Curtin Square

Protest Rally

11am Saturday 21 January 2017

Come along to hear about the development application, show your concern, sign the petition and hear how to make a response or objection

The facts

• a development application has been lodged to build a large building right on the edge of Curtin Square• the building will be 6 storeys above the square—5 storeys of high-ceiling rental apartments (50) on top of a double-height (7m) retail ground floor

• it will be equivalent in height to a 8-storey building

• many existing shops have not been guaranteed space in the new building.

We say the risk to Curtin is too great

• the building is much too big for the square—we agree with the Curtin Draft Master Plan, which limits 2 storeys on the square, 4 storeys off the square• the building will greatly reduce sunlight into the square from early afternoon onwards for over half the year—autumn, winter and spring

• the building will make parking more difficult for shoppers and visitors to cafés, gym, dentist and doctor

• the 50 apartments will make traffic problems worse for shoppers and nearby residents

• we will lose shops that make Curtin Square a unique and interesting place with its own identity

• we risk losing Curtin’s strongest feature—its sense of community

• we are not against development, but this one is not right for the square.

Book launch – 4 pm, Thursday 8 December

Book launch for Curtin turns 50 at 4 pm, Thursday 8 December.

All are very welcome at the launch of the book Curtin turns 50: the story of a Canberra suburb 1964–2014. It is all about the history of your suburb. The book launch will be held in the square at Curtin shops. It is your chance to buy your own copy of this interesting and relevant book.