Red Hill residents called yesterday for a key Assembly committee to delay its decision on allowing medium-density housing in the old area of the suburb.
They said it would be wrong for the committee to make a finding until the Australian Heritage Commission has determined their nomination of Old Red Hill for entry on the register of the national estate; the ACT Heritage Council has finalised its citation for the Interim Places Register; and Professor Ken Taylor has conducted his study of the area for the National Trust and the University of Canberra.
Old Red Hill is bounded by Mugga Way, Monaro Crescent, Flinders Way and Morseby Street.
The Old Red Hill Preservation Group says medium-density housing in the area will spoil an essential part of Canberra as a planned city.
A member of the group, Ann Howarth, said: “”The large single-residence blocks were designed for that area by Wlater Burley Griffin. Tourist buses often drove through the area because of its character. They won’t come to see townhouses.”
They reject assertions that they are a group of NIMBYs (not in my back yard) or a lot of well-heeled Red Hill silvertails.
Another member, Stan Bakker, said, “”It was a question of aesthetics over bucks. If we were in it for the bucks we would welcome the redevelopment.”
The ACT Heritage Council in preliminary advice has found the area meets seven of 11 criteria, and one of which would make it of heritage value. The other four pertain to natural areas.
The council said, “”The area is important for is historic and social and landscape values. It is strongly demonstrative of the social and cultural values of the early to mid-20th century in Canberra. It has strong associations with a number of people in the ACT who were prominent in the early public and business life of Canberra.”
Then it concludes: “”The council is of the view that they is no strong argument to prevent either the sub-division of existing blocks in this area or the construction of new dwellings, so long as the new work does not detrimentally affect existing streetscapes of mature plantings on blocks.”
Ms Howarth describes the conclusion as bizarre and contradictory. The large blocks and single residences create the streetscape. She said, “”Once the blocks are sub-divided and townhouses built, the extra cars and traffic will destroy the streetscape. Saving seven or eight isolated heritage residences would not preserve the heritage of the area.”
The National Trust has also attacked the finding, saying it was unaware of any conservation study on proper guidelines on the area. The community had a right to know upon what basis the council made its decision.
There are 73 residences in the area. Some have been sold for up to $2 million, subject to approval for townhouse development. An earlier redevelopment proposal was postponed pending the publication of development guidelines by the Assembly’s Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee.
The Old Red Hill group wants no townhouses in the area, arguing that Red Hill as a whole has above average medium density at ends