It might be considered a curious undertaking if it were done in any other city, but perhaps not so unexpected for a city that prides itself for being built according to "garden city" principles.
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In 1982, the District Planning Branch of the Planning Division of the National Capital Development Commission compiled an inventory of front fence structures observed in each suburb of Canberra.
A curious Canberran once posed the question as to why Canberra houses don't have front fences, with a reader jokingly asking whether there was an officer for fences in Canberra.
In fact, there has never been an "officer for fences", but the idea that houses should not have front fences began when the planning for Canberra's suburbs was first being developed.
It is generally well known that Walter Burley Griffin and his wife Marion Mahony Griffin won a competition to plan the new capital city, but it was Sir John Sulman, then president of the Town Planning Association of New South Wales, who advocated for some fundamental ideas consistent with the Garden City movement principles.
These ideas included the abolition of back lanes and front fences across the burgeoning city.
Consequently, the first building regulations passed in 1924 for Canberra houses set a precedent that has been followed ever since.
As Canberra's population grew in the post-war years, we can only imagine that keeping track of front fences and the maintenance of front hedges became an increasingly difficult task.
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The erection of permanent front fences shall not be permitted except in special cases where permitted by the proper authority, but wire fences of an approved type may be allowed for the temporary protection of gardens or hedges.
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Similarly, present-day instructions state that "fences facing the street in standard residential areas are not allowed, but property boundary demarcation is permitted (hedges are an example of this)".
Not unexpectedly, given suburban planners were working to garden city principles, the Department of the Interior encouraged and assisted homeowners to use hedges for front boundary demarcation.
We have covered before the concerns raised by the administration in the 1940s that hedges could become unkempt if the Parks and Gardens Section lost the responsibility to plant and maintain all hedges on block frontages, regardless of whether the dwellings were occupied by tenants or lessees.
In the absence of front fences, hedges were to "become part of the street alignment similar to the kerbing, guttering, footpaths, channeling etc". The circulars sent out to occupants specified that each hedge would be kept trimmed to a height of 2' 6" (76 centimetres).
As Canberra's population grew in the post-war years, we can only imagine that keeping track of front fences and the maintenance of front hedges became an increasingly difficult task.
At the end of World War II, Canberra's population is said to have been approximately 13,000. This number had doubled by the mid 1950s and by 1983 had risen to around 235,000 people.
In 1957 the NCDC was established and took over from the Department of the Interior "to undertake and carry out the planning, development and construction of the city of Canberra as the national capital of the Commonwealth".
Their planning included the continuation of the policy to prohibit the erection of front walls or fences.
Having committed to continuing the "front fence policy", the National Capital Development Commission's Planning Division announced that it would undertake a survey to analyse all the front fence structures that existed across Canberra's expanding suburbs.
Formatted survey forms were drawn up for team members to record details of any fence structures that followed the front boundary of a block or that extended along the side of the block and beyond the front of the dwelling.
As they worked through the streets of each suburb, they filled out sections of the form as well as sketching details of the fences and their location on each block. Even gates providing access to the property through hedges were recorded.
Photographs of the front of many of the properties have also been retained and accompany completed forms. The reference shown on the photograph corresponds with the photograph number written on the form.
Field workers stood in front of each property with a blackboard so that each image could be matched with the correct form once they had been bound together according to each suburb. Some survey team members found innovative ways to stay out of the photograph while still displaying the blackboard.
After all the field work for the front fences survey was completed, the data collected was collated and run through computer software to allow various reports to be produced and analysed by the NCDC. These reports form part of the collection of booklets that make up the Front Fence Survey of 1982 collection.
- To contribute to this column, email history@canberratimes.com.au.
