'Worried for some time': Gungahlin residents fear 11-storey tower

Canberra developer Benchmark Projects received approval for a 45-unit serviced apartment complex on the corner of Gribble Street and Anthony Rolfe Avenue in April 2024.

The site, block 6 section 2, is classified as a CZ2 business zone and has permission for up to 12 storeys under the Gungahlin precinct map and code.

But a resident group is concerned about parking in Gribble Street, which runs adjacent to Marketplace Gungahlin.

Resident Anna Bryers said the street already had "double parking everywhere".

"We have people parking each other in daily. It's quite dangerous," she told The Canberra Times.

The development plans show 15 on-site car parks for 45 serviced apartments, with 10 of these carparks situated on the basement level of the building and another five at ground level.

The group's plan for the block also includes one ground-floor commercial unit.

A traffic impact assessment, submitted to ACT Planning as part of a revised development application for the site, identified 71 public parking spaces within 200 metres of the block.

At least 93 per cent of these were full by 7pm, the report said.

The report encouraged people staying at the apartments to take public transport routes or use an existing nearby bike path.

It also encourages use of the nearby shopping centre carpark as an "alternative" to on-site parking.

Benchmark Projects director Frank Porreca said the development "aims to encourage the use of sustainable and active transport, and more engagement with the local area and surrounding businesses".

However residents dispute this would be the case.

"I don't think people staying in serviced apartments are the [demographic] to be bringing their bikes, really," Ms Bryers said.

She was also concerned about emergency service access to the street.

"We've been worried about this block for some time now," Ms Bryers said.

"We've put in our complaints, we've put in our concerns.

"We've attended the meetings and we just feel we are not being heard at all."

This week she also attended a protest at the site, along with other concerned residents.

"I'm not at all [opposed to more development in Gungahlin]. It is specifically the planning for this block," she said.

Community consultation was undertaken as part of a public notification period from November 10 to December 1 last year.

Ms Bryers and other residents lodged individual applications protesting the development.

"It's worth noting that in this high-density area, this development will be the smallest [in the area]," Mr Porreca said in a statement to The Canberra Times.

"The current plans have not maximised on the yield recommended by the Design and Review Panel."

Work is set to commence later this year.