We are concerned to learn that the ACT Planning and Land Authority has released a Development Application from Housing ACT to demolish 11 Wells Gardens in Griffith ACT and to replace the current single dwelling with three supportive housing units.
We are supportive of public housing. However, as one of Canberra’s oldest suburbs this proposal goes against preserving the heritage and outlook of the street by adding a condensed cluster of multi-unit dwelling. The justification for the significant expansion of the site is inadequately explained or justified.
Having been deeply sensitive to the traditional aesthetic of the street in our own building development application, the proposal fails to meet a common good as it diminishes the suburbs heritage value, contravenes previous Government assurances, and creates a double-standard in terms of expectations levied on private development applications.
For this reason we strongly advocate that this proposal should be comprehensively and immediately rejected.
