Please send an email to EPDCustomerservices@act.gov.au with your views
The W2 proposal is for 222 apartments (with a veneer of ground level commercial space) in three (14, 20 and 24 storey) towers on the north west corner of the Woden Town Square.
W2 is massive in bulk and scale and will overwhelm the Town Square by:
- overshadowing the south (sunny) side of the square in the afternoons.
- exacerbating wind funnelling potentially making it difficult for people with mobility issues
- losing the ability to be an entertainment precinct with live music and events because it is likely that residents living on the perimeter of the town square will complain.
This is damaging the future of the core of Woden as a place for community as it diminishes the attractiveness of the central area for people to meet and support small business. To date we have around 25 residential towers for homes for around 10,000 people in the town centre.
Innovative planning can have lasting impacts on civic pride. The Town Square is centrally located on the east west link from the Library through to the bus interchange and from the apartments in the north to Phillip in the south. It has the potential to host anchor activities such as the CIT and a cultural arts/cultural centre to attract people to it.
If we lose the opportunity to bring activity to the Town Square where will be the ‘beating heart’ of Woden be?
Perhaps we should revisit our planning!
Send email to EPDCustomerservices@act.gov.au
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[pdf-embedder url=”https://williamsonau.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/01/W2-Chief-Minister-letter-January-2021.pdf” title=”W2 – Chief Minister letter January 2021″]Woden development unattractive and unwelcome
Without consultation, a 10-year-old DA was approved in March for a 24-storey building on Borrowdale House, the old Post Office on the north west perimeter of the Woden town square.
Residents have strong concerns that this development will create more wind and overshadow our public space, the east-west connections to the library and the town square, diminishing the potential for activity and entertainment where people want to socialise and spend time.
In a similar situation, on May 22, 2018, The Canberra Times reported the ACT Greens rejected Geocon’s proposed high-rise hotel at Garema Place 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”.
Our public spaces and business opportunities are important to us. Twenty-four storeys on the town square is urban vandalism and we request positive outcomes with the government purchasing the three storey building for an arts centre.
Fiona Carrick, president, Woden Valley Community Council