The unimpeded right of redevelopment along Northbourne Avenue apparently being a government prerogative, Planning Minster Mick Gentlemen approved the demolition of most of Northbourne Avenue's public house precinct on Tuesday. The significance of the decision to close the book on attempts by architecture and heritage groups to preserve a precinct considered by some as an important example of post-war international style architecture – and by others as a blot on the landscape – cannot be overstated. The wholesale transformation of Canberra's most important gateway, with light rail as its centrepiece, is now set in concrete, with a strong likelihood that demolition of an architecturally and historically unique precinct will begin before year's end.
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The Barr Government's "go along with you, but only so far" approach to how much of the Bauhaus-inspired housing on Northbourne Avenue should be preserved always meant there was a high probability of ministerial call-in powers being exercised. When the National Trust announced earlier that it would continue efforts to save the entire precinct, despite a compromise deal between the government and the ACT Heritage Council to save 17 buildings, a call-in was more or less assured. The National Trust could, theoretically, press on regardless. But having now been denied access to the Administrative and Civil Appeals Tribunal, it may find the alternative legal avenue, the Supreme Court, prohibitively expensive.
Like planning ministers before him, Mr Gentleman has sought to justify his decision on the grounds that it's necessary to ensure certainty and timeliness of construction and that it's in "the public interest". It's clear, however, that uppermost in the government's thinking was a fervent wish not to be tied up for years in "unnecessary" ACAT appeals. It's also in a hurry because the demolition and redevelopment of public housing in and around Northbourne Avenue is a key component of light rail funding, a project it has committed to beginning very soon.
The government may well feel wholly justified in ruling a line under Northbourne Avenue, particularly since it's agreed to preserve 17 buildings after having initially wanted to demolish the lot. But resorting to call-in powers also raises issues of whether the government is seeking to evade proper planning, environmental or heritage scrutiny. Here again, Mr Gentleman might argue that the matter has been thoroughly canvassed and scrutinised. Then again, the size and scale of the planned changes would demand that the arguments were exhaustive, and more – and certainly not shut down summarily.
The other question that arises is whether the Barr government, by virtue of being a direct beneficiary of the sale of publicly owned land and a major beneficiary of its redevelopment, was not hopelessly conflicted when it opted to use call-in powers. The decision has, of course, been accompanied by fine-sounding words about acting in the public interest. But this is a highly elastic term, and reference to it ignores the reality that there is significant public opposition to public rail. That the government has not worked harder to preserve a unique part of Canberra is disappointing, but not unexpected.
