The ACT Greens say a proposal for a high-rise hotel at Garema Place in the city should be rejected as "unacceptable" and causing "long-term damage" to the city.
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Geocon lodged a development application for a 16-storey Garema Hotel earlier this month, the latest of high rises planned for the city centre.
ACT Greens parliamentarians Shane Rattenbury and Caroline Le Couteur rejected the proposal on two grounds - overshadowing of Garema Place and the squeezing-out of entertainment and nightlife.
They said if the proposal was to go ahead it would cause long-term damage to the city as a "place to spend time and to run businesses".
"The proposal is on the north side of Garema Place and would see it largely shaded from before 9am until
after 11am during winter," the submission said.
"This raises the question – do we want a dark, cold, overshadowed city centre like the worst parts of Sydney CBD, or a sunny, enjoyable place to spend time?"
But a spokesperson for Geocon said there would be direct sunlight in Garema Place at all times of the day.
"The plans meet the legislative criteria to ensure areas remain substantially sunlit, particularly between 12 noon and 2 pm on the winter solstice," the spokesperson said.
The proposed five-star hotel is proposed to rise above 50 metres and will replace the Garema Centre at 70 Bunda Street, with the hotel lobby opening on to Bunda Street and a restaurant to open on to Garema Place.
Geocon plans 233 rooms and construction is estimated to cost $46 million of an overall $100 million project cost.
The Greens' submission said research showed that sunny sides of streets were "much more profitable for operating shops, cafes, and restaurants".
It said Garema Place would be turned into "the shady side of the street".
The proposal also posed a "threat to Canberra's nightlife", and could push out entertainment and night-time activities.
"Garema Place and Bunda Street have a long history as a night-time hotspot, including a mix of restaurants, bars and nightclubs," it said.
"These businesses can only continue if there are no complaints about night-time noise."
The submission said there was a long history in Canberra and around Australia of noise-sensitive uses, such as hotels and apartments, moving into an entertainment area then driving out the entertainment business through noise complaints.
"We must not let this happen to Garema Place and Bunda Street."
The Greens said the nightlife concerns could be solved by changes to the design of the building to make sure hotel visitors were not disturbed by outside noise. They suggested high-grade noise insulation.
"However, the overshadowing caused by this proposal cannot be addressed by changes to the design," their submission said.
"The building is fundamentally too tall and bulky for a site on the northern end of Garema Place."
Geocon's spokesperson contradicted the claims, saying the hotel would bring more entertainment and night-time activities, including bars, eateries and "a signature restaurant of the like Canberra hasn't seen before".
"It will will vastly increase the vibrancy and foot traffic to the area of 400-600 guests daily plus several hundred staff coming and going, day and night," the spokesperson said.
"Independent market research shows the Canberra community overwhelmingly supports a hotel on this site.
"This kind of development belongs in the CBD and defines and revitalises the heart of the city."
