secretary Community, General, Information, News, Notices

Review of Traffic Management at the intersection of Ibbott Lane and Lathlain Street, Belconnen

The Belconnen Community Council wrote to Minister Steel regarding concerns about the traffic management arrangements at the intersection of Ibbott Lane and Lathlain Street in Belconnen. We highlighted safety and traffic flow issues at this highly trafficked intersection and emphasizes the need for short-term and long-term solutions for this intersection and the Belconnen Town Centre more generally.

Traffic-Issue-BelconnenDownload

Minister Steel’s response is below and included the following actions.

Roads ACT is presently reviewing the operation of traffic signals at these intersections to determine if any improvements can be made to traffic conditions in this general area in the short term. I have also asked Roads ACT to conduct a study to determine whether any feasible upgrade options to the road network and these intersections can be identified for future consideration.

ChrisSteel-Letterhead-MIN-S2023_01262-1Download

We appreciate the Minister requesting this review and study, but we will continue to follow up on the progress of these and advocate for action on effective solutions that alleviate traffic congestion and enhance road safety.

As always we rely on you to provide us with information and issues from across the district. We are always looking for help to stay on top of the workload, so if you would like to get involved we’d love to hear from you. You can email us at chair@belcouncil.org.au or hello@belcouncil.org.au for more information.

Lachlan Butler
Chair

secretary Community, General, Information, News, News and Events, Notices

Belconnen Community Survey

📣 **We Want Your Voice! Take Our Community Survey**

Hey Belconnen community! 🌟 Your opinions matter, and the Belconnen Community Council wants to hear from YOU! We’ve created a survey to gather your valuable insights and perspectives on how we can better serve our community.

🗺️ Share Your Vision: Let us know what you see as the role of the Belconnen Community Council. Your input will shape our future initiatives and guide our decision-making process.

🤝Meeting Preferences: We want to make our meetings as accessible and engaging as possible. Tell us how you would prefer we conduct our meetings. Your feedback will help us create an inclusive environment that encourages participation and collaboration.

🏡 Local Matters: What matters most to you in your local area? We’re eager to understand the issues that are important to our community members. Your responses will help us prioritize and advocate for the matters closest to your hearts.

📋 Take the Survey: Click the link below to access the survey and make your voice heard. It only takes a few minutes, but your impact will be long-lasting!

https://docs.google.com/…/1FAIpQLSc4Sq1GaS2…/viewform…

Your opinions are crucial to our community’s growth and development. Let’s work together to create a vibrant and inclusive Belconnen that we can all be proud of! 🤝💚

secretary Community, Government, Information, Media Reports, News, News and Events, Notices, Planning

Community Announcement: Planning Act Amendments and Community Engagement

With the passage of the new Planning Act last week, the Belconnen Community Council was glad to see the inclusion of key amendments that we lobbied for. These amendments addressed our concerns about community consultation and pre-DA consultation. These changes prioritized the voices of our community in the planning process, and we are grateful for this significant step forward compared to the draft bill.

However, while we appreciate the amendments, we acknowledge that concerns remain regarding the outcomes-based system and how it will impact Belconnen residents. In this vein, we support the built-in review mechanism to evaluate the system’s effectiveness and the potential need for further reforms. The government should be proactive and consider a continuous evaluation and review process of the planning system. We believe in ensuring active community participation in shaping the planning outcomes that impact our neighborhoods.

Additionally, we are disappointed that governance arrangements were not prioritized from the beginning. However, we welcome the amendment requiring an independent review of the governance arrangements within 12 months of the Planning Act’s passage. This review should examine the effectiveness of the independent planning body and explore the potential of local design panels, both of which we advocated for in our submission on the draft Bill. These measures will contribute to a more inclusive and community-centric planning framework.

We express our gratitude to the ACT Government, the Opposition and all stakeholders involved for their efforts in addressing our concerns and taking meaningful steps towards creating a more consultative and inclusive planning framework.

However our work is not yet done, we will keep advocating for the best planning outcomes for our community and if you are interested in helping out, we would love to hear from you.

The BCC remains committed to advocating for genuine and transparent community engagement in planning, and for a fit-for-purpose territory plan, district strategy, and design guides that deliver for the Belconnen community while delivering the housing our city needs.

Together, let’s shape the future of our community! 🌍✨

Glen Hyde Community, Information, News and Events, Notices, Uncategorized

Belconnen Community Council Community Consultation Survey – Development 34 Alexandria Street Hawker DA202139464

We need your opinions to feed into the consultation process with ACT Government on this important change in the Hawker community. You can find our survey here and we will keep it open until Friday 4 February 2022. There are links in the survey to all the information on the proposed DA and if you have any questions please use the link in the survey to contact us.

Glen Hyde Information, Meetings, News, News and Events

Kippax Update and new proposal

As promised from last night’s meeting you can find a copy of the Canberra Town Planning presentation here:

http://belconnen.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/Project-Update-KIPPAX.pptx

Please provide any feedback through hello@belcouncil.org.au and we will pass it on to the proponents.

Thank you to everyone who participated last night and apologies for the sound quality if you were participating online; we will try to iron the bugs out for the next meeting.

Josh Dawes Community, Government, Information, Notices, Planning

Kippax Group Centre Master Plan consultation close 16 March 2018

Kippax Fair propose turning a community oval into a shopping centre, instead of using one of the government owned carparks
Kippax Fair propose turning a community oval into a shopping centre, instead of using one of the government owned carparks

The Kippax Group Centre Master Plan Community Panel Outcomes Report and the final stage of community engagement on revisions to the draft master plan were released on Saturday 23 December 2017.

This period of engagement will run until Friday 16 March 2018. This particular engagement will be longer as it runs over the school holidays which we are unable to count as part of the engagement period.

This link will take you to the Your Say page with details of the engagement.

https://yoursay.act.gov.au/kippax-group-centre-master-plan-2

The BCC have prepared this presentation on the negative impacts of surrendering an oval to become a shopping centre, when better options exist.

The community oval is much loved and highly valued. The government owned carparks and old buildings in Kippax could be used to provide more retail space, or the owners of Kippax Fair could redevelop their building. Turning an oval into a shopping centre is not the best option.

We encourage all Belconnen residents to express their opinion on this master plan at the link above.

Josh Dawes Information, Notices, Planning

GEOCON parking in completed Republic development

GEOCON have provided the Belconnen Community Council with a document containing details of car parking in the completed Republic development.

That document can be found here.

The BCC should note that the Development Application lodged by GEOCON is for Stage 1 only.

A special meeting will be held at the Community Room above the Belconnen Library on June 13 at 7-9PM for members of the public to view the GEOCON DA and ask questions of the architects.