13 October 2009

Veteran's Park to be trimmed and overshadowed

| Aubergine
Join the conversation
21

Do you work in the City? Do you enjoy the small slice of green space on Bunda Street known as Veteran’s Park? Well it’s soon set to be trashed by yet another overdevelopment in this increasingly overdeveloped city. Stockland plan to demolish the AFP headquarters building (plus three others on the block) and construct a great lump of a shadow factory in their place. Picture twelve storeys shoved up against the northern boundary of the park – closer than the existing building, which has setbacks all the way up its six or so storeys, to allow sun through on to the park. This piece of crap? No setbacks, just a big wall. Bloody wonderful. Check out the details at http://apps.actpla.act.gov.au/pubnote/pubnoteDetail_new.asp?DA_no=200915418. Marvel at the shadow diagrams – doesn’t someone at ACTPLA think this is wrong? No problem as long as the developers cough up the fees? I also like the “green spaces” diagram – demonstrates perfectly how FEW there are around here. If we need another office block, why not build it away from the park – in one of those horrible bumpy glass-strewn carparks, perhaps, or up the road in low rise industrial slumville Braddon? Or in Gungahlin? Not NEXT TO THE PARK! Idiots. How long do we let them get away with this?

Join the conversation

21
All Comments
  • All Comments
  • Website Comments
LatestOldest
georgesgenitals10:48 pm 14 Oct 09

People want better priced property, and yet as soon as a development is planned lots of people bitch and moan. I know it’s government/commercial, but even still…

The more Civic is developed, the better.

It isn’t a choice between Veteran’s part and cute laneways – it is Veteran’s Park or another boring office block.

Quite a lot of people would like to get out of the airconditioned office to sit and eat their sandwich at lunchtime – which is tricky in the city centre – most people eat at their desks, or buy lunch at a cafe and sit there.

Weren’t Melbourne’s quaint laneways routes for the dunny men to use? Veterans park is cold and windblown. But there should be some greenspace up at that end of the city as well. Think of the poor birdies. Canberra’s planning authority sux and blows at the same time (from personal experience).

captainwhorebags. Quate. But Melbourne is a somewhat older city and much of the ambiance you mention has come with age and the concept of back lanes in the early developments of cities in this country.

I hope they put some in-slab heating in the paths in Veterans Park. Those paths are slippery with ice in winter with the current shadows, the longer shadows will only increase the area that the ice covers. Maybe a skating rink in the winter?

As far as demolishing the building after only 23 years – well it leaked from day one because of poor construction. Maybe it’s time …..

captainwhorebags5:33 pm 14 Oct 09

I’d much rather Melbourne style laneways full of interesting restaurants, bars and coffeeshops instead of the wind tunnel green spaces in the Canberra CBD.

The footprint of the proposed building is the same as the existing buildings. The size of Veterans Park is not decreased. I agree that the existing green spaces should be retained. While Canberra is a growing city, there is no need to turn it into a tar and concrete jungle!

Increasingly overdeveloped? I think you meant to write decreasing underdeveloped.

Veterans park won’t be missed. Canberra could do with better urban spaces that encourage mixing of people. The urban design in Canberra just doesn’t work, especially in the cooler months.

Looking at this file: http://203.9.249.2/e-registers/pubnote/pdf/PLAN-200915418-3d_Views_Sheet_1-01.pdf

It looks as though Veterans Park won’t actually be any different in size as to what it is now. It takes up roughly a third of the block at the present time and also in their concept.

Overdeveloped, underdeveloped… this argument is stupid: it’s neither. They’re keeping the park, and they’re increasing the size of the building beside it. Seems rather more balanced than usual to me…

over developed. you have to be kidding, it is terrible that civic has so few buildings as it is. more canberra centre developments the better, go to civic on a sunday and it is empty. it is a disgrace.

deye said :

if they are demolishing almost the entire block maybe they should move the park to the North side of the block and the building to the south side. Thereby negating the shadow problem. James Court wouldn’t cast much of a shadow over that location.

This solution would also provide a convienient location for drunks to crash their cars

if they are demolishing almost the entire block maybe they should move the park to the North side of the block and the building to the south side. Thereby negating the shadow problem. James Court wouldn’t cast much of a shadow over that location.

Perhaps this is a chance for the ACT citizenry to start asking for greenspaces on rooftops?

Bulldoze it. Civic is too spread out as it is. If you want a park, there’s plenty just outside Civic.

Green space is a very important part of big cities. I say retain this tiny bit of green in our city centre.

Overdeveloped? I think you find Canberra is considerably under-developed and the smarter and more efficient use of the land go a long way in making Canberra truly stand out as a city (and city centre) in its own right – rather than a desolate and sterile place to bury public servants. You want a park? Go to Glebe Park or even that 5minute drive to one of the Nature Parks in them thar hills. Seriously, you live in a city not a country town, thus there will be development, accept it and get over it!

cement it in and paint it green.

Sounds like a perfect excuse to replant the whgole lot with a Wet Eucalypt Forest type of planting scheme.

‘overdevelopment in this increasingly overdeveloped city’ – you are joking right? I think the more development in Civic, the better! It’s about time Civic started looking like a city centre.

Trunking symbols10:10 am 13 Oct 09

This is even more puzzling when you realise the AFP headquarters and Veteran’s Park were only built and opened in 1986. Is this the new use-by date for buildings? 23 years? Sounds fishy to me . . .

Woody Mann-Caruso10:04 am 13 Oct 09

I’m sure you and the three other people who use the ‘small slice of green’ must be devastated. Surely it’s only a matter of minutes before somebody at ACTPLA realises that the benefits you derive from the park massively outweigh those created by the new development and they scrap the whole thing.

Daily Digest

Want the best Canberra news delivered daily? Every day we package the most popular Riotact stories and send them straight to your inbox. Sign-up now for trusted local news that will never be behind a paywall.

By submitting your email address you are agreeing to Region Group's terms and conditions and privacy policy.