Government planners wanted to exclude land from west of the Murrumbidgee River from a study of future land release options in Canberra because they were totally opposed to developing the area.
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Bureaucrats from the now-defunct Territory and Municipal Services department did not want the land considered for ecological reasons and concerns over the bushfire risk in the area.
The current ACT government has no plans to develop the land west of Tuggeranong due to environmental concerns.
The ACT government agreed to investigate potential infill and greenfield sites in 2010, cabinet documents released to The Canberra Times show.
The then-planning minister Andrew Barr circulated a discussion paper on residential settlement opportunities in Canberra to members of cabinet.
The paper was put forward to investigate land supply possibilities to make way for the next 100,000 dwellings in the ACT.
It looked at land opportunities in both infill and greenfield sites but was put forward prior to the government's planning strategy which is for 70 per cent of all new dwellings to be in already existing suburbs.
The paper discussed the potential for dwellings in greenfield sites in north Belconnen, Symonston, west Molonglo and west Murrumbidgee.
But it was the potential investigation of west Murrumbidgee which proved to be controversial among the ACT's public service.
The former Territory and Municipal Services department did not support the cabinet submission and was particularly scathing.
MORE A.C.T. CABINET DOCUMENTS:
"TAMS is not prepared to support the cabinet submission if west Murrumbidgee is included in the locations nominated for future possible development," cabinet documents showed.
"TAMS believes that west Murrumbidgee should not be considered for development as it contains significant areas of Yellow Box - Red Gum grassy woodland endangered ecological community and secondary grassland.
"In addition to the conservation values, TAMS has also highlighted the fire risks associated with development in this location."
The discussion paper slated about 15,000 dwellings for west Murrumbidgee but it did raise issues with accessibility.
"West Murrumbidgee, despite its proximity to the Tuggeranong Town Centre, does not have the metropolitan accessibility of Molonglo, Gungahlin or north Belconnen," documents said.
"It would require detailed environmental assessment."
The national capital plan was amended by the federal government in 2016 to allow for development in west Murrumbidgee but Chief Minister Andrew Barr was quick to rule out any development in the region due to the cost and environmental concerns.
Mr Barr reaffirmed this position in 2020 ahead of the ACT election.
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Lucy Bladen
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
Lucy Bladen has been a journalist at The Canberra Times since 2019. She is an ACT politics and health reporter. Email: l.bladen@canberratimes.com.au
