Population growth and environmental impacts are leading to densification in our town centres.
The Woden Town Centre services multiple districts. Population forecasts in the ACT Planning Strategy 2018 are: Woden (49,200), Weston Creek (33,200), Molonglo (51,400) and South Canberra (40,300) bringing the catchment for the Woden Town Centre to 174,100 people by 2041.
In response to the lack of activity in Woden, the ACT Government has planned for high rise residential towers to bring people, and therefore activity, to the centre. While building heights have been codified in the Territory Plan, public spaces and community facilities are limited. There is no guidance on the number of apartments that are appropriate on each site and therefore new residential towers have very high densities.
The Woden Valley Community Council (WVCC) is concerned that the balance between residential towers, public space and community facilities does not meet the current and future needs of the community.
Cities are the people that live in them – within cities, geographical communities (town centres) are identified for the provision of facilities and services – hubs where people can ‘live, work and play’. These communities are important for the health and well-being of people, they provide places for people to meet, leading to reduced social isolation.
Generally governments provide planning for public spaces and non-commercial services and facilities, facilitating confidence in the area and investment by the private sector.