The proposal for 250 hobby farm rural leases near Hall needs thorough examination. Hall residents assert the Government has signed a secret deal with a developer, Derek Whitcombe, of Leader Real Estate for the $25 million development. The Government says there is nothing secret in the proposal and no decision yet has been made to grant the developer the land.
Secrecy aside, on its face the proposal looks foolish in the long term — in terms of centuries not decades. The prime function of the ACT is to provide a home for the national capital. That requires a very large buffer of land to allow for future development, as the Founding Fathers so presciently foresaw. Large rural leases upon which genuine agriculture is practised seem the best holding-pattern use for that land. A whole lot of small holdings will make it difficult in the future. This looks like a raid on future wealth and a fairly cheap sell-out at that.
Developers often say that they should get a reward for their “”original ideas”. The reward asked for is frequently exclusivity. But development ideas are hardly ever original. It does not take much to imagine carving up agricultural land into hobby farms, or converting a car park to shops. If this development must go ahead it should go to tender to reap maximum public benefit.
The potential to destroy the village atmosphere of Hall also needs to be considered.
The National Capital Authority should step in to this one.