Weston Creek residents have accused the Barr government of steamrolling locals and ignoring its own consultation process over the development of public housing, and have vowed to keep fighting a development in Chapman.
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Submissions close on Friday on the ACT government's development application to build 20 two-bedroom townhouses on the open block bounded by Kathner Street, Darwinia Terrace and Percy Crescent.
The development is among five planned for the Weston Creek and Woden area which have seen strong community protest.
The development will be used to house tenants from Northbourne Avenue public housing flats, which are being demolished to make way for tram-related redevelopment, and from the Red Hill flats.
The government scaled back four developments after a public backlash earlier this year. The Chapman development was cut from 30 to 20 homes, the design was changed from rows of units to duplex townhouses, allowing access only on Darwinia Terrace, and stricter bushfire building standards were imposed.
But the Darwinia Park Action Group said most residents remained opposed due to planning issues, the bushfire risk and other concerns. They wanted the land kept as green space for community use.
Residents supported "appropriate" and "well thought-through public housing", but said this development did not tick the boxes.
The group feared the government had already signed contracts for construction while the development application was still open, however, a spokesperson for Chief Minister Andrew Barr rejected the suggestion as untrue.
Action group spokesman Chris Braddick said the government was "steamrolling residents".
"Behind the web of tricky justifications, this plan is really about money and politics - they are steamrolling residents to grab Commonwealth cash under an asset recycling deal to fund light rail," he said.
The ACT will receive about $60 million in bonuses under the Commonwealth asset recycling payment scheme, designed to encourage states to sell assets.
"It doesn't seem to matter that they are pushing often vulnerable public housing tenants into harm's way, in an area that they have themselves designated as bushfire prone," Mr Braddick said.
Liberal MLA Giulia Jones said Chapman residents rightfully felt ignored by the government as it pursued plans to build public housing on community land regardless of the concerns.
"They are frustrated because they feel the public consultation is a sham and that the government will proceed with development plans regardless of their concerns," she said.
"In fact, some of the most concerning aspects of the development were not open for discussion during the consultation process such as site selection, bushfire risk, or the appropriateness of using land reserved for community use for public housing."
The plan involves removing a number of regulated trees - trees that are either taller than 12 metres, or have a circumference of more than 1.5 metres.
The site also has two protected trees - both Eucalyptus polyanthemos - one in the middle of the block and the other along the southern boundary.
A government spokesperson said there were no plans to remove the registered trees, which would be protected during the development.
"Registered trees cannot be removed through the planning process," the spokesperson said. "Only regulated trees can be removed through the planning processes, if certain tests are demonstrated to have been met."
