ACT Election 2020: Liberals vow to preserve Curtin horse paddocks

But Chief Minister Andrew Barr said the move would simply force the National Capital Authority to find another parcel of prized inner-south land for new embassies.

Mr Barr also pushed back at suggestions that the ACT government handed over the land as part of a "dodgy deal".

He claimed there was never even a deal between the two parties, saying the Commonwealth didn't need the ACT's permission to seize control of land in the national capital.

Opposition leader Alistair Coe and local MLA Giulia Jones on Wednesday announced the Liberal's intention to bring the horse paddocks back into the territory's hands if elected in October.

They have also framed an alternative vision for the redevelopment of Lake Burley Griffin's west basin waterfront, which doesn't include housing in the precinct.

Mr Coe said the Liberals also opposed the government's "extravagant and excessive" plan to reclaim a section of the lake bed to build a new boardwalk and public park, saying Canberra was not "Singapore or Hong Kong".

The future of the two sites has been at the centre of controversy and community angst since late March, when the ACT struck a deal with the Commonwealth to secure the lake bed site at the same time as it surrendered the horse paddocks.

The deals sparked campaigns from groups wanting to preserve the respective sites - horse owners and local residents in Curtin and the Lake Burley Griffin Guardians in the city.

Mrs Jones said the sprawling horse paddocks belonged to the community and shouldn't be redeveloped with diplomatic embassies.

Vowing to do everything possible to "unpick the dodgy deal", Mrs Jones said she had held talks with the federal government about the Liberals' proposal. She refused to comment further on those talks.

"We will unpick [the deal], we will return this land to the people of the ACT," she said.

"We will do everything possible. We will be obstructionist, we will make sure that this property goes back to the people of the ACT."

A National Capital Authority spokeswoman said the land had been designated for "national purposes" and there were no plans to change that.

The Canberra Times has contacted federal territories minister Nola Marino and Liberal senator Zed Seselja for comment.

Mrs Jones said there was "plenty" of available land for new embassies in the ACT should the Curtin site been handed back, but did not specify where.

The authority had been searching for years to secure extra land for new embassies, with a lack of available sites forcing it to turn away countries looking to establish a diplomatic presence in Australia's capital.

The National Capital Plan dictated that new embassies should be built in places which were prestigious and close to Parliament House as well as other embassies, which effectively limited the options to blocks of land in the tightly-held inner-south.

Mr Barr said if the Curtin land was handed back to the ACT, the National Capital Authority would have to find another location for new embassies, which would threaten land in Yarralumla, Deakin and Hughes.

The chief minister also rejected the assertion that the agreements with the Commonwealth in Curtin and Lake Burley Griffin amounted to a land swap.

He said the federal government had the power to seize control of land in the national capital without the ACT government's permission.

"They can do what they want," he said.

Mr Barr reiterated that it was a federal Liberal government which had settled on the Curtin site.

His attempts on Wednesday to play down the ACT government's involvement in the land deal were at odds with evidence to a parliamentary inquiry in June last year, in which he said the territory wouldn't be able to start work at Lake Burley Griffin until it had found land for the National Capital Authority.

He went as far as suggesting the ACT government was being "held to ransom" over the deal.

ACT Equestrian Association president Christine Lawrence, who has been a vocal critic of plans to redevelop the Curtin horse paddocks, welcomed the Liberals' commitment.

Ms Lawrence said the months since the March announcement had been a difficult time for horse owners, who were set to be evicted from the paddocks in 2022.

She said the ACT couldn't afford to lose any more land for horse agistment, with existing government-owned sites at capacity and more than 300 owners waiting for a spot to open up.

"Every bit we lose puts pressure on the whole system," she said.

The Liberals also want to go back to the drawing board on plans to redevelop the so-called Acton Waterfront precinct on the banks of Lake Burley Griffin.

The Barr government's plan for the precinct includes a new boardwalk, parks, cafes and event spaces, along with a mixed-used development which would include some housing.

The Liberals will restart community consultation on the project if it wins the election, with Mr Coe declaring that he wants the precinct to be retained primarily as green open space.

His vision does not include housing at this stage, and he has emphatically ruled out allowing "skyscraper apartments" in the precinct.

Mr Barr has repeatedly pointed out in recent weeks that high-rise apartments blocks wouldn't be permitted in the precinct, due to strict planning rules introduced by the Turnbull government in 2016.

Lake Burley Griffin Guardians acting convener Mike Lawson welcomed the Liberals' proposal, which he said was broadly in line with the group's vision for the precinct.

Mr Lawson believed the Liberals' position had the potential to sway some voters at October's election.