The Dickson Master Plan!

anonymoose said :

georgesgenitals said :

I reckon this will be good. Stimulating life in the inner north will help gentrify the area.

Seconding this but I hope we get some more bars. I’m sick of people working in the North wanting me to go down to Manuka ‘for a quick drink’.

Improve the area, the demographic changes, and the demand for things like nice bars will increase. It will just take some time.

qedbynature said :

…it begs the question of whether the so-called planners are deliberately making car based transport difficult so as to encourage alternatives,like the wonderful ACTION service.

There’s still doubt???

georgesgenitals said :

I reckon this will be good. Stimulating life in the inner north will help gentrify the area.

Seconding this but I hope we get some more bars. I’m sick of people working in the North wanting me to go down to Manuka ‘for a quick drink’.

I reckon this will be good. Stimulating life in the inner north will help gentrify the area.

fullmoon said :

The first comment, as always, is about parking.

Of course, the new bus station, improved pedestrian permeability and access and the opening up of car free laneways and arcades are always secondary to “where is my bit of useless real estate that I can leave my tonne or so of steal for the day?”

If you read the information that the OP links to, there will be basement parking in the new supermarkets.

By the way, there are two new supermarket sites. There will be a new Coles and a new Aldi. The current Wollies is apparently the busiest in the country, there is defiantly demand there for a second major player.

I don’t care if there’s going to be a new bus station. That won’t make the buses run on time, nor will it extend beyond services beyond midnight or during weekends (when most of the people from outside the immediate area go to Dickson), nor will it mean the duration of a bus trip is magically comparable to that of taking a car. Without adequate car parking, the new expansion will be a waste of time for all but those who live very close by. It remains to be seen whether the proposed underground car parking will be adequate. I hope it will be, because I often like to go to Dickson – especially on weekends – and catching a bus isn’t worth the time it takes.

The town centre has 3 storey buildings, yet surrounding builidngs on Northbourne are 8 storeys.
An unpside down town centre?

minkshaman said :

Mysteryman said :

And the replacement car-parking will go where?

didn’t you realise?
ACT Government hates cars and drivers. Expect either more pay-parking or none at all.

When contacted about this oversight, ACT government will say “Catch more buses”

Don’t worry, after all the character goes, and some of the restaurants decide they can’t be bothered paying to move into new shops then pay more rent, there really won’t be any reason to go to Dickson anymore.

I’ve had a quick look through the master plan and on the whole it seems surprisingly thorough and well designed. There are a few parts that have an odour of developer interest, and a lack of green space is concerning. The real test though will be how the plan is implemented.

I am a fan of increased pedestrian access, and in this respect I feel the plan doesn’t go far enough. Wooley street should be turned into a plaza or single-lane mixed use area. There is already generous parking in the multistorey on Childers street to allow for this.

What happens/happened to the Tradies? Gone bust? Moved to the old Downer Club cinders?

Looks like a formula for the ACT government to cash in on property values. One immediately obvious problem is that car traffic/parking will become an even bigger nightmare. Already road traffic grinds to a halt in peak periods along cowper st and the congestion at the intersection of Badham with Antill and with Challis is getting worse. And since no one seems to be getting rid of their cars anytime soon it begs the question of whether the so-called planners are deliberately making car based transport difficult so as to encourage alternatives,like the wonderful ACTION service.

Of course the Tradies will also collect a windfall from any development. Another job for David Lamont perhaps?