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Article text

Hodgman
speech
'contrary
to NCDC
plans'
By STEPHEN PAYNE
A recent speech on urban con
solidation by the Minister for the
Capital Territory, Mr Hodgman,
had not reflected the thinking of the
National Capital Development
Commission, contrary to a
statement in the speech, the NCDC
commissioner, Mr Tony Powell,
said yesterday.
The speech was delivered to the an
nual .conference of the Australian In
stitute ofllrban Studies in Sydney last
month.
It is understood that the NCDC
provided briefing notes for the speech,
prepared in the department's policy co
ordination branch.
The speech outlined thinking on ur
ban consolidation in Canberra, includ
ing the possibility of redeveloping entire
sections in inner suburbs into "villages"
of three- or four-storeyed terraced'
houses.
Early in the address, Mr Hodgman
said, "I think this is a good opportunity
to canvass some of the thinking that the
officers of the Department of the Capi
tal Territory and of the NCDC have
been giving to the consolidation of Can
berra".
Mr Powell said yesterday, "In the
minister's paper the reference to the
reflection of thoughts of the commission
was an error. It did not reflect the
thinking of officers of the commission.
It was a prepared address by his depart
ment".
He was speaking after issuing a
statement setting out the NCDC's poli
cies on urban consolidation. Mr Powell
said media reports of the speech to the
institute had - caused many people to
question whether the commission had
changed its policies, and he was issuing
the statement to assure them it had not.
A spokesman for Mr Hodgman said,
"The NCDC knew what was in the
speech and did not raise any objections
to it. I think they understood perfectly
well that it was kite-flying and nothing
else".
Some aspects of Mr Powell's
statement can be seen as direct con
tradiction of ideas put forward in Mr
Hodgman's speech, and suggest the
NCDC wishes to dissociate itself from
the thinking it contained.
Main features of the speech, besides
the section-sized terraces, included:
The specifying of Reid, Braddon and
Ainslie as being particularly suited
to terraced housing.
The statement that multi-storeyed ter
races "would allow plenty of scope
for mixing dwelling types within the
one structure. .
The possibility of including government
housing in the terrace developments
by private devlopers.
By comparison, Mr Powell's
statement says the NCDC's policies on
urban consolidation include:
That large-scale redevelopment of inner
Canberra suburbs is not feasible "in
either social or economic terms".
That the commission has no formal view
as to whether inner-area develop
ment should take a particular form.
In those areas covered by a Heritage
Commission listing [some residential
areas of Reid and Braddon fall into
this category], the policy is to en
courage individuals wishing to re
develop their properties to do so in
a manner respecting the historic
architecture and landscape, but its
attitude is one of "advocacy and
persuasion,' not One of rigorous'en
forcement".
Having no policies "which aim to en
force a particular social mix".
Government housing for needy groups
should be included "as relatively
small clusters in the suburban en
vironment".
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