In a sweet gesture the Greens’ Caroline le Couteur has announced she’s appealing to the better nature of the warlord’s warlord, Commonwealth Transport Minister Anthony Albanese, in the hope he will relinquish some of his powers over the airport to the ACT Government.
“On a number of issues, from transport, to employment centres to supermarket competition policy, the Canberra Airport has become a mini Monaco which can pay no heed to planning goals or regulations.
“The airport has expanded recently to become a retail centre and an office precinct as well as an airport. These new facilities would be better at a town centre or on a local transport route. The growth at the airport has been at the expense of growth in Canberra’s town centres, in particular Gungahlin.
“The ACT Government has been forced to pay for extensive and expensive road works throughout the area to accommodate traffic increases as a result of the developments.
“It’s only reasonable that the Canberra community, who are affected by these developments, are able to have a say over their progress.
“I’ve taken the step of writing to Mr Albanese in order to alert him to this issue, and request that his department engage with the ACT Government in order to ensure that the Airport’s future development better respects the goals of Canberra’s planning and development framework,” Ms Le Couteur said.
I do like the Monaco line though, the Airport should do something with that.