A New Building to House ACT Public Servants ?

Before committing another large lump of ACT taxpayers’ funds to a new building, they might be wise to wait a little longer and see what happens with ongoing federal “rationalisation” – there might be quite a bit of space coming up in Civic and, who knows, landlords might actually be prepared to offer truly attractive deals to get a solid, long-term tenant.

As to the arguments about centralisation and proximity, there doubtless are some functions which need to be located within close proximity of the Legislative Assembly, but others might benefit from the perspective of a geographic location other than Civic and the inner north.

rommeldog56 said :

maya123 : That’s because there is roadworks along Majura Road at present.

Given your logic for employment bases being in central locations, I look forward to seeing the rapid expansion of Civic and many more business/employers moving there and away from Tuggers, Fyshwick, Belco, Gunners, etc.

I don’t know where a position such as yours takes us, except, ultimately the total congestion of Civic.

It takes us to good planned public transport and not ever expanding car parking. And people willing to walk a few hundred metres without complaining. There should be lots of handicapped parking for those that can’t.

maya123 : That’s because there is roadworks along Majura Road at present.

Given your logic for employment bases being in central locations, I look forward to seeing the rapid expansion of Civic and many more business/employers moving there and away from Tuggers, Fyshwick, Belco, Gunners, etc.

I don’t know where a position such as yours takes us, except, ultimately the total congestion of Civic.

rommeldog56 said :

Maya123 said :

rommeldog56 said :

bd84 said :

Heaven forbid they want to build their new building in a central location that is easy for most of their staff to get to!!? Like every other state or territory government in this country..

Have you visited Callum offices or MacArthur house and gone inside lately? The only refurbishment of those buildings is one involving a wrecking ball. The long term cost of maintaining those government owned buildings would far exceed the cost of leasing space in a new building, they did say the intention wasn’t to build and own it, only sell the land and lease it..

If some of the existing offices need to be demolished, then so be it.

I’m just expressing a (my) view that the right decision should be made for the right and fiscally correct, reasons.

Also, re a “central location”. So, the Feds are wrong in locating Departments in Tuggeranong and Belconnen ?

The world won’t end if staff have to travel a bit – those Federal dept’s have no trouble attracting staff to those non central locations. I would have thought that decentralisation to other parts of Canberra, away from Civic, would be useful for employment in those areas.

ACT Ratepayers just shouldn’t have to support a lot of extra cost to locate a building in Civic so it is “easy” for staff to get to.

If it turns out to be not much more than in other locations in the ACT, then in Civic it should be.

I would have thought that just about everywhere in Canberra is “easy” to get to compared to most larger cities in Oz, though.

It’s not ideal expecting staff to have to travel great distances by putting offices in far flung suburbs. It’s fine for those living there, but not for others. It is best when work can be accessed by public transport, walking and cycling. The best places for offices are in locations where those modes of transport can be best utilised.

“Far flung suburbs” ?

“staff not having to travel great distances” ?

: This is Canberra we are talking about. You can drive from one side to the other in about 30 minutes. I suppose, relative to Canberra itself, those comments are right. Going by that reckoning though, putting the new ACT Govt offices in Gunners (no – Im not living there – Im in Tuggers) would be useful for the toy train set ’cause ACT public servants who are already living in Civic would catch the tram the opposite way to the majority at peak hours.

In

most other States I believe that State Gov’t public servants have been progressively relocated out of the CBD area as leases expire, buildings become uneconomic to maintain, etc. Or, those buildings in CBDs have sometimes been renovated to persevere them.

There will always be winners and loosers when a Gov’t or private sector employer relocates. Its costs that drive the private sector locations. That doesn’t seem to be a factor in many ACT Gov’t decisions Im afraid.

Still, if the Gov’t was serious about containing costs, I suppose that ACT public servants could also end up in Fyshwick or at the airport like so many others ?

But we all know, if it happens, it will be built in Civic, so relax. But if it isn’t and the extra travel across the Canberra megatropolis is too much for a few ACT Govt public servants to handle, then they may have to do what happens in the private sector and in other State Gov’ts, resign and look for work closer to home. There will be plenty of others prepared to travel to take those jobs.

“You can drive from one side to the other in about 30 minutes.”
In peak hour! Doubtful. For example, I was on the Majura Road a few days ago and the traffic was at a standstill.
Having work locations that require long commutes depends on the workers having a car. Some people don’t/can’t drive. How do those people get to work if their workplace is moved to an outer suburb? Having work away from central areas discourages the use of alternative transport such as bikes and public transport, or plain walking. It costs the community money on infrastructure for roads and car parks. Plus the related health expense of people not getting enough exercise. Or if the cost of these facilities is passed onto users, such as in parking fees, that’s another expense on the top of petrol (which will continue getting more expensive) for the commuter to find. Sure, the worker can sell up and move close to their work place, but what if then their work moves from Gungahlin to Tuggeranong? Do they move again? At least a central location has better transport options.

Given that:
a) My understanding is that they are currently building something in Gungahlin for some of the ACT public servants.
b) They want it within a 10 minute walk of the ACT legislative assembly
That there are some requirements that those staff members regularly/occasionally need to go to the legislative aseembly for whatever reason.

Yes there are video conferencing options, however it is not necessarily just meetings where you talk that occur. You have documents to sign, things to discuss, computers to fix. There are a variety of reasons to have at least some presence in civic. In your cost calculations you would also need to factor in the time it takes to get from place a to b, and the cost of taking taxis from place a to b.

Maya123 said :

rommeldog56 said :

bd84 said :

Heaven forbid they want to build their new building in a central location that is easy for most of their staff to get to!!? Like every other state or territory government in this country..

Have you visited Callum offices or MacArthur house and gone inside lately? The only refurbishment of those buildings is one involving a wrecking ball. The long term cost of maintaining those government owned buildings would far exceed the cost of leasing space in a new building, they did say the intention wasn’t to build and own it, only sell the land and lease it..

If some of the existing offices need to be demolished, then so be it.

I’m just expressing a (my) view that the right decision should be made for the right and fiscally correct, reasons.

Also, re a “central location”. So, the Feds are wrong in locating Departments in Tuggeranong and Belconnen ?

The world won’t end if staff have to travel a bit – those Federal dept’s have no trouble attracting staff to those non central locations. I would have thought that decentralisation to other parts of Canberra, away from Civic, would be useful for employment in those areas.

ACT Ratepayers just shouldn’t have to support a lot of extra cost to locate a building in Civic so it is “easy” for staff to get to.

If it turns out to be not much more than in other locations in the ACT, then in Civic it should be.

I would have thought that just about everywhere in Canberra is “easy” to get to compared to most larger cities in Oz, though.

It’s not ideal expecting staff to have to travel great distances by putting offices in far flung suburbs. It’s fine for those living there, but not for others. It is best when work can be accessed by public transport, walking and cycling. The best places for offices are in locations where those modes of transport can be best utilised.

“Far flung suburbs” ? “staff not having to travel great distances” ? : This is Canberra we are talking about. You can drive from one side to the other in about 30 minutes. I suppose, relative to Canberra itself, those comments are right. Going by that reckoning though, putting the new ACT Govt offices in Gunners (no – Im not living there – Im in Tuggers) would be useful for the toy train set ’cause ACT public servants who are already living in Civic would catch the tram the opposite way to the majority at peak hours.

In most other States I believe that State Gov’t public servants have been progressively relocated out of the CBD area as leases expire, buildings become uneconomic to maintain, etc. Or, those buildings in CBDs have sometimes been renovated to persevere them.

There will always be winners and loosers when a Gov’t or private sector employer relocates. Its costs that drive the private sector locations. That doesn’t seem to be a factor in many ACT Gov’t decisions Im afraid.

Still, if the Gov’t was serious about containing costs, I suppose that ACT public servants could also end up in Fyshwick or at the airport like so many others ?

But we all know, if it happens, it will be built in Civic, so relax. But if it isn’t and the extra travel across the Canberra megatropolis is too much for a few ACT Govt public servants to handle, then they may have to do what happens in the private sector and in other State Gov’ts, resign and look for work closer to home. There will be plenty of others prepared to travel to take those jobs.

dungfungus said :

Canberra already has a spare Parliament House and it’s where such a building should be. Would be ideal.
It’s big enough to cater for Andrew Barr’s wildest dreams for the future.
I am serious.

Next up they’ll drain the lake and sell the land to developers to build more tiny apartments.

Canberra already has a spare Parliament House and it’s where such a building should be. Would be ideal.
It’s big enough to cater for Andrew Barr’s wildest dreams for the future.
I am serious.

Anything built within 1km of vernon circle should be minimum of 30 floors.
Anything else is a waste of time and a waste of space. I thought they were trying to make Canberra more dense? Or perhaps they are too dense.

rommeldog56 said :

bd84 said :

Heaven forbid they want to build their new building in a central location that is easy for most of their staff to get to!!? Like every other state or territory government in this country..

Have you visited Callum offices or MacArthur house and gone inside lately? The only refurbishment of those buildings is one involving a wrecking ball. The long term cost of maintaining those government owned buildings would far exceed the cost of leasing space in a new building, they did say the intention wasn’t to build and own it, only sell the land and lease it..

If some of the existing offices need to be demolished, then so be it.

I’m just expressing a (my) view that the right decision should be made for the right and fiscally correct, reasons.

Also, re a “central location”. So, the Feds are wrong in locating Departments in Tuggeranong and Belconnen ?

The world won’t end if staff have to travel a bit – those Federal dept’s have no trouble attracting staff to those non central locations. I would have thought that decentralisation to other parts of Canberra, away from Civic, would be useful for employment in those areas.

ACT Ratepayers just shouldn’t have to support a lot of extra cost to locate a building in Civic so it is “easy” for staff to get to.

If it turns out to be not much more than in other locations in the ACT, then in Civic it should be.

I would have thought that just about everywhere in Canberra is “easy” to get to compared to most larger cities in Oz, though.

It’s not ideal expecting staff to have to travel great distances by putting offices in far flung suburbs. It’s fine for those living there, but not for others. It is best when work can be accessed by public transport, walking and cycling. The best places for offices are in locations where those modes of transport can be best utilised.

Go to Gungahlin and catch the bloody tram to and from.

bd84 said :

Heaven forbid they want to build their new building in a central location that is easy for most of their staff to get to!!? Like every other state or territory government in this country..

Have you visited Callum offices or MacArthur house and gone inside lately? The only refurbishment of those buildings is one involving a wrecking ball. The long term cost of maintaining those government owned buildings would far exceed the cost of leasing space in a new building, they did say the intention wasn’t to build and own it, only sell the land and lease it..

If some of the existing offices need to be demolished, then so be it. I’m just expressing a (my) view that the right decision should be made for the right and fiscally correct, reasons.

Also, re a “central location”. So, the Feds are wrong in locating Departments in Tuggeranong and Belconnen ? The world won’t end if staff have to travel a bit – those Federal dept’s have no trouble attracting staff to those non central locations. I would have thought that decentralisation to other parts of Canberra, away from Civic, would be useful for employment in those areas.

ACT Ratepayers just shouldn’t have to support a lot of extra cost to locate a building in Civic so it is “easy” for staff to get to. If it turns out to be not much more than in other locations in the ACT, then in Civic it should be.

I would have thought that just about everywhere in Canberra is “easy” to get to compared to most larger cities in Oz, though.

Hey Rommsey, someone would almost think you were against everything the current ACT government does.

You’d think most staff would be against it….no free car parking anymore, it’s hard enough even if you want to pay to park around London circuit.
But i guess they want to place people there so they’ve got to spend money in Civic?

Heaven forbid they want to build their new building in a central location that is easy for most of their staff to get to!!? Like every other state or territory government in this country..

Have you visited Callum offices or MacArthur house and gone inside lately? The only refurbishment of those buildings is one involving a wrecking ball. The long term cost of maintaining those government owned buildings would far exceed the cost of leasing space in a new building, they did say the intention wasn’t to build and own it, only sell the land and lease it..