“A Canberra and region planning strategy, prepared in conjunction with NSW governments, is urgently needed,” writes planning columnist MIKE QUIRK.

The returned Barr government should not rest on its laurels. 

It should take the opportunity to review its policies and management, which have demonstrably failed to meet the challenges facing Canberra. 

Detailed assessments are needed to determine priorities, given the level of unmet need greatly exceeds the resources available. 

Among the areas needing review are transport, urban development and social housing.

Public transport 

Targets to reduce car use by increasing the use of public transport have not been met.

Major failings include the decisions not to undertake an assessment of the merits of bus rapid transport on for the extension of Woden and the signing of a contract to construct Stage 2A, from Civic to Commonwealth Park, at a time of labour and supply shortages and before Stage 2B, from Commonwealth Park to Woden, had been approved. 

As the contract for Stage 2B extension will not be signed until after the 2028 election, the opportunity exists to assess whether the light rail extension, which Minister Chris Steel sees as essential to reducing future congestion, is the best strategy. 

Has the focus reduced the funding available to deliver fast, frequent and reliable bus services and is the expenditure justified given improvements in electric bus and autonomous vehicle technology and increased working from home? 

Are the transport needs of the “50,000” workers in the Parliamentary Zone best met by light rail? 

One project that could shed some light is Brisbane’s (electric bus) Metro. The Metro opened on October 21 and will be fully operational in December. It will operate on two dedicated busways covering 21 kilometres. 

It has a level of comfort and service similar to light rail with high-capacity buses (150 passengers and 170 in event mode), an operational frequency of every five minutes in the peak and is closely integrated with the rest of the transport network. Its estimated cost of $67 million a kilometre compares more than favourably to the per kilometre cost of Canberra’s Stage 2A of $339 million. 

Urban development & social housing

The move to a higher-density city has been a component of planning policies since the late 1980s. 

The aims were to reduce travel, widen housing choice and to reduce infrastructure costs. 

The infill target was increased from around 50 per cent to 70 per cent in the 2018 Planning Strategy, a long-term planning strategy that did not investigate the environmental, travel and infrastructure costs of alternative land use distributions, the scope to disperse employment or housing preferences. 

The merits of potential greenfields areas such as Kowen and the level of infrastructure cost savings of infill, especially in inner Canberra, where substantial augmentation of social and physical infrastructure has occurred, were not assessed.

A consequence has been an undersupply of detached blocks reflected in an increasing price differential between detached and multi-unit dwellings and an increase in car-dependent development in surrounding NSW. 

While the demand for higher-density dwellings is growing from increased numbers of single and couple households, reduced housing affordability and the increased concentration of employment services in inner areas, a strong demand remains for detached dwellings. 

Most infill dwellings developed have been apartments that do not meet the needs of many households in terms of number of bedrooms (only 14 per cent of apartments in Canberra have three or more bedrooms), storage space, communal open space and orientation. 

Current policy settings predominately result in high and medium-rise apartments in and around town centres, along Northbourne Avenue and Kingston and the construction of dual occupancies, most unaffordable to those on low-to-moderate incomes. The developments frequently result in a loss of tree cover, an increase in hard services, parking blight and local traffic congestion.

Between 2011 and 2024, despite an increase of more than 100,000 in the territory’s population, the number of public housing dwellings fell by more than 1000. Even with adjustments to planning policies to address the “missing middle”, medium-density redevelopments are unlikely to become much more affordable. 

A great increase in supply of well designed and constructed apartments is essential to address needs and improve community acceptability. Outcomes could be improved by the introduction of a minimum block size for redevelopments and the exclusion of dual occupancies in RZ2 areas. 

The preparation of a design guide is a step in the right direction. Until redevelopment dwellings better meet housing needs there will be a strong demand for new detached dwellings. 

A Canberra and region planning strategy, prepared in conjunction with NSW governments, is urgently needed. The assessments would include environmental impact, infrastructure cost, housing preferences, affordability and strategies to disperse employment, particularly to locations well served by public transport. 

It can only be hoped that the government has the insight that its policies and management practices need to be improved to deliver better outcomes for the community, not just in relation to transport, urban development and social housing, but in health, education, city maintenance and financial management.

Mike Quirk is a former NCDC and ACT government planner.