The kindest thing that can be said about the decision to take responsibility for the infill redevelopment of land along Northbourne Avenue off the Land Development Agency is it is almost certainly for the best.
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The move marks a belated recognition by the ACT government that despite its commendable record as a cash cow, the LDA has performed poorly.
Housing affordability in Canberra has become steadily worse under its watch.
Making money for the government should not be the LDA's core function. Its real priorities must be the co-ordination and management of well paced and affordable land releases to meet the needs of our growing city that strike a balance between fair returns and social equity.
This hasn't been happening. As a result the LDA has been under fire from all sides over the slow pace at which land has been released, the significant reduction in the average sizes of blocks being offered for sale over the last decade, an undue emphasis on units and the exclusion of private players from new suburb projects.
It is close to a decade since Jon Stanhope set the agency the task of building up a bank of at least 1000 "build ready" blocks of land that could be sold through shop fronts to people planning to build a home.
It has never seriously attempted to meet this goal with the result this is the only jurisdiction in Australia where, unless you can find a builder who has an undeveloped block or three in their back pocket, you can't inspect a block, buy it and then start building.
It is an absurd situation and one that leads to long waiting times and massive inconvenience for people trying to negotiate the move from rental accommodation to a home of their own.
While Chief Minister Andrew Barr has to date been reticent about who actually will be looking after the development of tens of thousands of home sites along the corridor, it seems possible private interests may play a role.
This can be inferred from his reference during Tuesday's leaders debate to "new vehicles" to drive the infill projects.
While, on the face of it, this seems desirable and would be in accord with industry wishes, controversies over the way development proposals in Manuka and Kingston have been handled do raise concerns.
The last thing Canberra needs is private interests making millions just because the LDA is considered to be overworked.
Government must also lead the way in the redevelopment of our gateway precinct by setting a very high bar for the types of projects and the building designs that are eventually approved.
It would be a tragedy if it signs off on shoddy and cut-priced proposals that quickly become eyesores and will need to be demolished and replaced in two or three decades from now.
