It came as a surprise to many on Monday morning to see the carpark outside Woolworths Dickson fenced off with signage saying it will be closed until September 2023 at the earliest.
Many had no idea until they saw the hoarding and signage informing the public that the long-discussed Dickson Village was now under construction.
Upon completion, Dickson Village will house a new supermarket, shops, units, and a two-storey underground carpark with over 665 permanent spaces.
In the meantime, the 250 carparks, including 12 disabled spots outside Woolworths Dickson in the already tight precinct will be offline for more than two years.
The Dickson Residents’ Group (DRG) argue that both the developers and ACT Government have been negligent in keeping the community informed.
Despite the efforts of the DRG to let people know through their website and social media presence, group spokesperson Peter Stanley told Canberra Daily the developers and ACT Government have failed to keep the community informed of how the project is progressing.
“Almost nobody realised this was happening,” Dr Stanley said.
“They have failed to meet every promise they’ve made … they promised to letterbox north Canberra but haven’t done that.”
Dr Stanley said the DRG reached an understanding with developer TP Dynamics that they would keep the community informed about what was happening through letterboxing and other means, but failed to keep up their side of the bargain.
“Just yesterday I saw people pointing at the hoardings saying what’s going on; people who worked at Dickson shops didn’t even know it was happening,” he said.
“It’s the developer and the government’s responsibility to keep people informed and they manifestly failed to do that.”
In their construction period parking plan, the developer committed to communicating the parking and development information before commencement via:
- Postcards letterboxed to nearby residents;
- A letter to Dickson traders;
- Information on the hoarding;
- A meeting with businesses in the Dickson Group Centre;
- Engagement with North Canberra Community Council (NCCC), Downer Community Association and Dickson Residents Group; and
- Information distributed through government agencies and via their website.
In a statement, a spokesperson from the Dickson Village project told Canberra Daily they have “worked closely” with local residents, traders and the ACT Government to “ensure the community has access to the latest information on the development”.
“Our Dickson Village website and Facebook page are frequently updated, including details of key milestones,” they said.
In addition to these online resources, the spokesperson said they have used postcards to communicate with nearby residents and recently held an information session for traders.
“Throughout the development period we will keep our website and Facebook site up-to-date, and important information will also be displayed on the on-site signage,” they said.
Despite this, DRG president Jane Goffman said it has been “very much an uphill battle all the way” to obtain “any reasonable information” from the developers and government on the project.
“And that’s been really hard on people, because residents’ groups are made up of volunteers,” she said.
“We’re raising the issues, we’re flagging them in, I think, the most diplomatic way we can, and we’re being ignored.”
Ms Goffman said the DRG is concerned the parking issues will flow on to impact businesses in the precinct, and vulnerable people accessing various health services at Dickson.
“We’re not talking about top end of town here, we’re talking about people who do have needs,” she said.
“If they’re unable to access services because they can’t find a place to park, that’s not something a fair and reasonable government should be allowing.”
Minister for Planning Mick Gentleman said the government required the developer to address community concerns such as temporary off-site parking during construction, traffic management and preserving the Dickson Library.
“This included extensive communication requirements,” Mr Gentleman said.
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