Politicians of both sides had made a full-scale retreat from taking responsibility for Canberra, the chairman of the National Capital Planning Authority, Joseph Skrzynski, said yesterday.
They had wrongly assumed that Canberra was not popular and that they could adopt the attitude “”let’s not do anything about Canberra”.
Mr Skrzynski matched his message to his audience.
The audience was the Building Owners and Managers Association, a group of property developers.
He likened Canberra to a large property development. In the central national area there were $2 billion worth of buildings alone. The replacement value of landscaping was $90 million.
Were we making the best of the investment? No.
Were we spending enough on the 10-square-kilometre development to maintain it properly? No.
“”I don’t know what the exact rule-of-thumb ratio is for building costs to outside landscape maintenance spending, but would $1.78 million on $2 billion worth of building be enough?” he asked.
The answer from the experts in the audience was a clear “”No”.
“”Tourism is a large industry,” he said. “”We are competing for the tourist dollar and we are not doing a good job.”
Any property owner or manager knew how important landscaping and presentation were in getting the best out of the investment.
The parliamentary area was decaying in parts. There were weeds, fountains that did not work, poor parking without lighting, and peeling statues in scaffolding.
“”We do not deserve the $400m spent by tourists in Canberra each year,” he said.
The nation was not protecting its investment.
“”There is a full scale retreat by politicians for any responsibility for Canberra,” he said. They were being allowed to get away with the attitude: “”Let’s not do anything about Canberra.”
Canberra faced a major challenge. There would be great pressure on the employment base if departments were shifted or if the public sector shrank. Canberra had to lessen its reliance on a single employer.
Canberra needed to become a vibrant commercial centre as well as play a monumental role.
Despite the retreat by politicians, Mr Skrzynski saw an opportunity. Both sides of politics would be appealing to a sense of nationhood, especially in the lead up to 2001. The national capital could be a big symbol in 2001.
A nation-wide NCPA survey had shown that it was a myth to say Canberra was not popular. Three-quarters of those surveyed said it was important for major institutions to be in the national capital and that the capital should be developed further.
“”We could do it a lot better,” he said. “”Old Parliament House is a black hole, for example.”
The central area should be a lot more active, as was envisaged by Walter Burley Griffin and later planners.
“”There is no shortage of solutions, except who is going to pay for it,” he said.
The chief executive of the NCPA, Lyndsay Neilson, said the NCPA had a statutory function to foster awareness of the national capital, but no budget for it. It spent $80,000 from an administrative budget. The equivalent body in Canada spent $13 million on education about Ottawa.
On a separate issue, he said Canberrans would be in for a shock over the next 10 years as the NCPA used the threat of traffic congestion and reduced parking spaces to get more people to use public transport to get to work in the Civic and the parliamentary area. At present 18 per cent of workers in that area used public transport; it could go to 40 or 50 per cent.
Mr Skrzynski has been chairman of the National Capital Planning Authority since August last year. He is also chairman of the Broadcasting Council. In the private sector, he is managing director of an investment trust and a director of seven public and private companies.
It was announced last month that Cathrin Bull, (subs: no bull, the Cathrin does not have an e) a former president of the Australian Institute of Landscape Architects, has been appointed part-time member of the NCPA and that Professor Paul Reid, of the University of NSW and formerly chief architect of the National Capital Development Commission, has been re-appointed part-time member.