The government has signalled a swathe of housing and other developments across the city, planning to open up major public housing blocks for redevelopment and rezone key areas.
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The public housing blocks set for redevelopment are the troubled Stuart Flats in Griffith, Gowrie Court in Narrabundah, Strathgordon Court off Melrose Drive in Woden, and the Red Hill Flats, in total containing 385 units.
They are all set for rezoning to allow high-density residential development, which may or may not include 10 per cent public housing.
The government housing which stretches the length of Cygnet Crescent opposite the Red Hill Flats is also part of the mix, to be rezoned as part of what the government is calling an “omnibus variation” to the Territory Plan.
In Dickson, a block of three-bedroom houses on Morphett Street and Lowrie Street is to be rezoned, although the new zoning is yet to be determined.
This is the first time the government has gathered such a number of disparate projects in a single Territory Plan variation, which deals with developments across the city in one fell swoop. The draft variation is to be prepared by September.
It includes a large block of land in Dickson to be rezoned to allow high-density residential and other development. The block takes in the built area on Antill Street behind the Dickson pool, stretching up to Hawdon Place adjoining the Dickson sports grounds.
The rezoning includes the Dickson pool but the government says it has no plans to touch the pool. Rather, it wants to allow residential development in the blocks behind.
An area of the Stromlo Forest Park is to be rezoned to allow a planned hotel, camping ground and swimming pool near the mountain bike park.
Two blocks on the Federal Highway in Watson are to be rezoned to allow high-density residential development, extending the spread of new units and townhouses at the northern end of Watson.
The former Downer Primary School is included in the change, with plans to redevelop the site for affordable housing.
In Kaleen a vacant site on Baldwin Drive, once home to the bocce club, is to be rezoned for medium-density housing.
Most of the public housing blocks - including the Stuart Flats, Gowrie Court, Strathgordon Court and Red Hill Flats - are proposed to be zoned RZ5, which allows high-density apartments, with a maximum height of 21.5 metres and generally six storeys.
But depending where they are, the rules can specify greater or lesser heights to fit in with surrounding houses, and the government points out that it is still consulting on the suggested zones.
Despite the multi-unit public housing that exists on the blocks, at the moment most of them are zoned only RZ1 or RZ2, which covers low-density and low-rise houses.
In Stirling, land behind the Weston Creek Labor Club is to be rezoned to allow residential development.
In Greenway, more land on Mortimer Lewis Drive next to Lake Tuggeranong and near the dog park is to be zoned for residential development.
In Mitchell, a new block is to be opened for industrial development beside the crematorium. In Fyshwick more land is to be opened up for DFO-style development stretching along Canberra Avenue towards Queanbeyan.
Across Canberra Avenue and along Hindmarsh Drive towards the Monaro Highway, the vacant land is to be rezoned to allow a range of industrial and retail uses.
The land is beside the Amtech Estate, which was to have been a concentration of high-tech companies, but the high-tech vision failed to eventuate and the ACT government now wants to open up the adjoining land to light-industrial uses like other areas of Fyshwick.
In Manuka, the government is considering the future of a block on Flinders Way just up from the shopping centre, now home to a childcare centre.
It is also considering and the land along Manuka Circle backing on to the Manuka Oval that includes an arts centre, cricket nets, and formerly the Canberra Services Club.
These sections were to be part of the omnibus Territory Plan variation but on Thursday the government said they were off the list for now.
Acting executive director of housing and community services David Collett said changes to the Territory Plan could take months or years, and the “omnibus” approach, of making a number of changes at once, was designed to streamline the process, meant community groups could comment on several proposals at once, and allowed people to get a sense of the overall approach to redevelopment across the city.
Mr Collett said Canberra’s public housing was largely developed from homes built for public servants, and now needed updating and modernising. The government also wanted to break down the concentrations of disadvantage in some of the major public housing blocks, and was looking to a limit of about 10 per cent public housing in new developments.