Waterfront cafes and restaurants, event spaces and a designated "swimming cove" are planned for Lake Burley Griffin's West Basin as part of a refreshed vision for the precinct.
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The government's City Renewal Authority has published a new plan for the rebranded Acton Waterfront precinct, which sets out high-level principles to guide the transformation of the area in the coming decade.
The 56-page document only covers public spaces, and as such there is no mention of the residential development earmarked for the lakefront land.
But Chief Minister Andrew Barr has reiterated that housing will be included in a low-rise, mixed-use development scheduled to be built in the precinct in the second half of the decade. Mr Barr last week confirmed that apartments in the precinct would ultimately number in the hundreds, rather than thousands, as previously mooted.
The precinct envisaged under the new plan is a far cry from the one set out under the ACT government's contentious City to the Lake project, which was to be dominated by apartments built close to the water's edge.
The new, uncosted plan describes a precinct defined by tree-filled parks, playgrounds and public meeting places, all linked by walking and cycling paths. There is also talk of building a tunnel from Commonwealth Avenue to Parkes Way to prevent large volumes of traffic passing through the precinct.
The area's focal point, dubbed "The Heart", would combine restaurants, cafes with a public playground and event space along a new waterfront promenade.
City Renewal Authority chief executive Malcolm Snow described Acton Waterfront as an "unmatched opportunity" to connect the city to Lake Burley Griffin.
"For too long Canberra's city centre has turned its back to the water," Mr Snow said.
"Acton Waterfront will turn the city around to embrace its best landscape feature."
Mr Barr said the document would inform an estate development plan for Acton Waterfront, which would provide a more detailed overview of how each of the site's blocks would be used.
That was expected to be finalised in early 2021.
Mr Barr said the residential component of the project was still years away, noting the public space works would be delivered first.
He repeated that development in the precinct was regulated by strict federal government-approved planning rules, which limited building heights to eight and 25 metres in different sections. All development must be set back 55 metres from the lake's edge.
The ACT government is already spruiking the project's employment-creating potential, saying the next phase of works will support 100 roles during construction.
The government is still awaiting the National Capital Authority's approval to start those works, which involves the construction of a new 500-metre waterfront boardwalk.
The new public space will be built on top of 2.8 hectares of reclaimed lake bed, which the ACT government secured in an controversial land deal which saw the the National Capital Authority handed Curtin's horse paddocks.
The release of the new plan will almost certainly be met with opposition from heritage group Lake Burley Griffin Guardians, which have in recent weeks renewed their campaign against the project.
The group has argued the future apartment blocks will ruin lake views, while work to reclaim the lake bed will destroy wildlife habitat.
The Canberra Liberals have also expressed concern about the project, saying they don't want the waterfront to be turned into an "overcrowded and dense building zone".