Canberra’s future western limit is becoming a flashpoint: more than 2,000 people have signed a petition calling on the ACT Government to keep almost 10,000 hectares of bushland, farms, and endangered habitat out of future development plans.
The ACT Government will set Canberra’s urban boundary — the hard line beyond which the city cannot sprawl — next year.
The Conservation Council ACT Region wants the government “to draw that line in such a way that protects our Western Edge for generations to come”, campaign organiser Aoibhinn Crimmins said.
“This area of bush to Canberra’s west is critically endangered, home to farming families, Indigenous sites, and a place that Canberrans just love to get out and enjoy,” Ms Crimmins said.
The Western Edge — some 9,800 hectares between the Molonglo River and the Murrumbidgee River — contains some of Australia’s last box gum grassy woodlands, and is home to threatened species such as the superb parrot, pink-tailed worm-lizard, and the Murray cod.
It acts as a buffer zone for residents in Belconnen, Molonglo Valley, Weston Creek and Kambah from bushfires, extreme heat, and flooding, which the Council warns will be more frequent and severe. It also includes Ngunnawal occupation sites and trading and ceremony pathways, and is a popular spot for bushwalking, horse-riding, and boating.
The Council said the government had bought land in the Western Edge Investigation Area over two decades, and is investigating potential future uses, including urban development.
“We’re talking bulldozers rolling through this pristine environment,” Ms Crimmins said.
The government had not made any decision to develop the Western Edge Investigation Area, a spokesperson said. It is developing a landscape plan for the ACT which will include proactive protection of areas of environmental value in the Western Edge. The spokesperson said preliminary investigations have been completed, and further environmental studies are underway.
“No decisions have been made about future land uses in the Western Edge,” the spokesperson said.
“The Conservation Council is asking the Government to make decisions before the necessary environmental studies are completed. The ACT Government is undertaking the work needed to build a robust evidence base before options and recommendations regarding future land uses are developed. This approach is intended to support informed and considered decision-making and consultation with the community.”
“They’re still only talking of plans of plans of plans,” Ms Crimmins said. “We’re yet to have any community consultation on this significant decision of where Canberra city limits are set. They’re meant to be set in a year, and we think there needs to be much more genuine community consultation on such a big decision for our city.”
The government has set a target of 70 per cent of new housing within established urban areas and 30 per cent in greenfield locations.
The Conservation Council believes Canberra can meet housing demand through infill, missing-middle reform, and better urban design without pushing further west.
“We want to see more houses,” Ms Crimmins said. “We think the housing crisis is just as big of an issue as the biodiversity and climate crises that Canberrans are facing, but the good news is we can actually address all three crises in the one go. We don’t have to choose one over the other.
“When you build people really far away from the things they need, that’s not a very liveable city.”
The Conservation Council will hold a campaign information night on Wednesday 22 July at the Food Co-op in the Cit, 6 to 7.30pm. It will present a proposal on how to protect the Western Edge later this year, with backing from farmers, traditional owners, and conservationists. The Council’s documentary On the Edge is on YouTube.
