It’s of great doubt as to whether Canberra even wants, or needs, pedestrian bridges over Lake Burley Griffin.
But it turns out there are plans for not one, but two of the buggers waiting to be run into by rowers and to snap the masts of the sailors.
The first is the reasonably well known immigration bridge a private concern seeking public subscriptions to build a bridge from behind the Albert Hall to the National Museum. The Canberra Times now reports that, despite keeping the money they’ve had in so far in a high yeilding term deposit, the proponents also plan to keep return just $85 of each $110 sponsorship even if the bridge doesn’t go ahead. They’re thinking they might be able to submit a Development Application (DA) in the next 18 months suggesting they’re better at TV ad campaigns and tugging on heart strings than actually building things.
But it was flagged on 666 yesterday morning, and has been picked up in the CT Today. That the Weston Park draft master plan also has a map showing a bridge from Weston Park to the Black Mountain Nature Reserve. In case you missed it (and lord knows I did), the plan went out for a month’s “consultation” in November last year and garnered around 50 responses.
But it’s OK! The ghost of Burley Griffin has been invoked, the sure sign of rogues up to no good in this town:
- “The proposed pedestrian bridge was included in the draft master plan because it was part of the original Griffin Plan for Canberra and supported by the Burley Griffin Foundation,” the spokesman said.