''There is an opportunity literally for the city to engage the waterfront as well as ANU - in my mind it would be a place that defines the next evolutionary phase of Canberra,'' Malcolm Snow said, in his first extensive interview since taking over as chief executive.

The award-winning town planner made it clear he would not be satisfied to have a City to the Lake plan that is just more of the same.

''Merely remaking west basin or the bit of the city that moves towards west basin in the same style or manner of the existing city would probably not be something I would want to do,'' he said.

''I would regard the opportunity for the city to move towards the lake to be an extraordinary opportunity for Canberra to continue its evolution as a city, to embrace not only current planning and design thinking but also new technologies and opportunities to mix things up a bit more than perhaps traditionally cities are allowed to do.

''When you travel overseas you often admire cities in the old world that seem to be able to mix up and incorporate uses and activities which make them really interesting places to be, places which seem to be able to support a great diversity of activities both socially, demographically, economically and culturally.''

So where is west basin and what is its significance for the city? This section of Lake Burley Griffin lies between Commonwealth Avenue and the National Museum.

The ACT government said earlier this month work on the waterfront precinct at west basin was expected to get under way late next year, to construct a lakeside aquatic centre and urban beach, a public promenade, boardwalk, piers and jetties.

The plan fits with Snow's goal of greater use of the lake foreshores.

He sees similarities - ''common DNA'' - between the lake and Brisbane's very successful South Bank where he was CEO for six years.

Decades ago, the area now known as South Bank was a gritty part of town, a no-go area for most residents. ''There were more police stations, pubs and brothels in that small area than there was anywhere else, it was pretty rough,'' Snow said.

''The common DNA is that South Bank and the national capital area are special places, they're precincts, they're areas defined as being important to the future of their respective cities.

''They have different audiences, they are very similar challenges … one of the common pieces of DNA is the waterfront location.

''I think that's where the analogy might cease because Lake Burley Griffin is a different type of natural water feature.''

At this point in the conversation he lays out a big caveat about Lake Burley Griffin. ''It's not going to be ringed by cafes,'' he declared. ''More importantly and fundamentally, its reason for existence was that [Walter Burley] Griffin saw the need for a significant natural asset to pull all the different parts of the plan together and to provide an extraordinary recreational and landscape element as a central part of his vision.''

While Snow wants to increase the scope for people to use the lake, he is acutely aware of the huge responsibility his agency has to preserve the central section of the bush capital. He has seen waterfront developments go wrong elsewhere.

''Fundamentally Lake Burley Griffin must be about the public interest and I therefore feel that if we are to contemplate any further development, and I mean commercial development, we need to [be] very conscious of the way in which it contributes to the public's experience of the public space, not the other way round,'' he said.

In Canberra, everyone seems to have strong opinions on planning and development - and that suits Snow.

''You cannot pick up a copy of The Canberra Times without one or more pages talking about development issues. I think this a good thing,'' he said. ''If you had not just the media but a community disinterested in matters relating to the future of their city, Canberra would be the poorer, so I think it's an absolute positive that we can have a vigorous discussion and debate.''

He is expecting that passion to be on show when the NCA holds its annual public forum on Thursday, April 3.

Snow will be on stage for three hours to take questions which are expected to cover many topics, from west basin to trees to pay parking.

''The forum is an opportunity for the community to ask questions of a planning agency which has the national interest at its core - what are their views about the City to the Lake, what are the views about the future of Lake Burley Griffin and the ways in which we can activate it? But I would hope there would also be people who would ask about the NCA's broader vision … I hope we also get some questions about the bigger picture.''

He said a high priority was being ''crystal clear'' about the purpose and role of the authority.

He is not going to be put out when pay parking is introduced to the parliamentary triangle in July - he rides the bus to work.

The policy change on pay parking was made by the former Labor government, on the recommendation of the authority to preserve visitor access to cultural institutions, before he took over as NCA boss.

What about the public servants who will have to pay to park in the shop-free parliamentary triangle? ''There will obviously be more angst as we approach the day.''

Snow grew up in Toowoomba, known as Queensland's ''Garden City'', perched on the crest of the Great Dividing Range.

''The city is often compared with Canberra because of its natural setting, elevation, slightly cooler environment, a city with strong identity determined by its natural setting to some degree,'' Snow said.

A nice coincidence, then, that he came to Canberra. The first time was a couple of decades ago when he worked at the then National Capital Development Commission as a young planner, fresh from the University of Queensland.

''The NCDC was moving ahead quite dramatically at that stage in relation to what I call some big picture thinking in relation to the future of Canberra,'' he said. ''Those were exciting times for me at an early point in my career because I had been exposed to people, many of whom had come from quite different places, a lot of them were from the UK. There had been a big recruitment drive early in the life of the NCDC where the organisation itself seemed to attract good thinkers, good planners, good designers.''

Snow has won 34 international, national and state awards, including the Australia Award for Urban Design on three occasions.

How did he discover his calling?

''I didn't even know town planning existed as a discipline until an almost serendipitous conversation between my mother and my geography teacher. My mother, who was a physics teacher, was wringing her hands saying, 'What am I going to do with Malcolm?' The teacher said, 'Do you realise his interests are in design and geography? Have you ever thought of town planning?' To which my mother said, 'What's town planning?'

''So this shows, even in the early '70s, people had an ill-formed idea about what planners did. Fast forward to today, we're in one of the most urbanised countries in the world - city planning and what cities mean to our economy and to our society has now grown in significance where you couldn't imagine contemplating the sorts of things cities need to do without that profession being involved.''

Snow found working in Hanoi and Glasgow very rewarding. ''I made the decision to go overseas, to put myself in what I call those deep-end experiences which are the best sort of experiences early in anyone's career, where you're confident about your ability to listen and take on board new information, and confident about your own skills.''

In Vietnam he worked on an aid project offered by then prime minister Paul Keating to introduce a new planning system heavily drawing upon the Australian system.

''This was a very big change for them - in Vietnam a lot of the planning system was highly codified and had come out of the Russian system where there was a code for everything, whether it was the width of a verandah or the height of a roof.

''I think the project was instrumental in helping that country go on the journey towards opening its doors to new economic investment.''

Back in Australia, he worked in several cities before returning to Canberra for his new post. He knows the budget is going to be hard on government agencies but said the NCA must continue to manage its existing assets carefully on behalf of all Australians.

''For me the immediate priority is making sure about assets that have been in the ground in some cases for 50 or 60 years, irrigation systems to name one.

''There is no doubt in my mind that the cycle of weather patterns will mean that inevitably drought will reappear. People talk about water being white gold, it is a very precious commodity, and this is where I think smarter thinking about the way in which we use and manage water is critical.''

While reducing water usage, he is aware of public expectations about the parliamentary triangle. ''I don't think anyone would contemplate a national area which was a completely dry grass landscape. I think people understand when we have buildings and institutions of the status we have in the national area that they should be able to have a higher quality and therefore green landscape. Views may differ around that but nevertheless I think in this discrete part of Canberra, people expect a quality public environment.''

Snow said the last drought had an enormous impact on the health of the 20,000 trees under the NCA's umbrella.

''We are keeping them alive to the best of our ability.''

Like managers of all government agencies, he hopes to keep the NCA healthy as well after the budget, as he watches Canberra develop - ''a city which is able to dream and then deliver on its aspirations, whether it be west basin or light rail or a whole host of projects.''

1. He is an aficionado of Australian crime fiction.

2. He has a ''green thumb'' - on both hands.

3. His great-great-grandfather arrived in Sydney in 1854 from St Ives, Huntingdonshire, England, to help establish Hardy Brothers the jewellers.

4. He survived a near-death experience aged eight while bushwalking.

5. He was married at Lyneham Uniting Church.

6. His favourite place in Canberra is the National Botanic Gardens.

7. He fancies himself a cook, despite poor domestic reviews.

8. He now barracks for the Brumbies (thanks for the memories, Reds!).

9. His favourite city is Edinburgh, Scotland.