Good ol’ Belco: Is it time for a change?

Posted on 14 January, 2015

Have you ever looked around and seen something that could be done better in the Belconnen Town Centre? Or headed along to an event, a restaurant or a park and thought, ‘Gee, I wish there was more of this’? Well, you’re in luck. Right now, you – yes you – can influence the future of the Town Centre in an opportunity that comes around only once a decade.

What I’m talking about is the Belconnen Town Centre Master Plan. It’s an important document which guides how the Town Centre should develop, and what it should look and feel like. The first one was released in 1968, and since then it’s been updated in the 1970s and 1980s, and the last update was in 2001. This year, it’s being updated again, and the Government’s launched its initial consultation which will inform the update to the Master Plan.

It wants to hear from the community to get the best understanding possible about any issues or concerns it has, and hear ideas on how to make the Town Centre the best it can possibly be.

It’s easy to appreciate that Belconnen Town Centre now is a completely different town centre to what was around in 2001. In 2001, Westfield hadn’t expanded, many of the great restaurants didn’t yet exist, there was a completely different bus interchange and no Arts Centre; and towers like Sentinel, Oracle, Altitude and Linq didn’t dot the landscape.

Sentinel Apartments, Belconnen

Wayfarer – what will be Canberra’s tallest building – hadn’t even been thought of. Much of the Town Centre’s surface level parking – which took up a lot of space – has made way for development, reducing car parks available to visitors to the Town Centre (rightly or wrongly).

But some things that concerned the community in 2001 are still issues today. Back then, people wanted to see better linkages between Westfield and the surrounding area, and thought that open spaces like Margaret Timpson Park (directly across from the mall on Benjamin Way) could be better utilised.

So, what’s important to you in the Town Centre? What concerns you? What would you like to see? Is it better, wider paths and cycleways? Are the buildings too high? What would encourage you to take the buses more? How important to you is it that we maintain an attractive employment base in Belconnen, including at Commonwealth and ACT Departments?

Are there spaces in the Town Centre that need protecting from development so that future generations have the opportunity to enjoy it, like our lakeshore and bushland? In terms of entertainment, what’s working? What isn’t?

Do you have ideas on how we can make Belconnen Town Centre a destination?

(And hey, you might also be the person who has the solution for how to better connect Westfield to the rest of the Town Centre, or how to encourage people to use Margaret Timpson Park!)

But don’t just hold onto your ideas – you have to tell someone by Friday 30 January!

Fortunately, it’s VERY easy to do so. Here are some options:

• send an e-mail to belconnen@act.gov.au. You don’t have to write a submission or format it properly – dot points will do just fine.
• visit a display at the Belconnen or Kippax libraries, or the Belconnen Community Council’s exhibition at Westfield Belconnen. There, you can read a bit more about the Master Plan and submit your ideas via a postcard.
• get in touch with us (you can e-mail me with your ideas directly at chair@belcouncil.org.au and I’ll personally make sure your ideas are put forward), OR
• come along to the Belconnen Arts Centre 5-7pm on Thursday 29 January for a FREE twilight barbecue. Representatives from the BCC, Arts Centre and Belconnen Community Service will be on hand to help you make your ideas known.

If you’re looking for some inspiration, here are some good places to start:

• Take a look at the information posters the ACT Government released about this Master Plan process.
• Here’s where you can access the 2001 Master Plan.
• Check out the survey we conducted last year on the Town Centre.
• Visit our exhibition Belconnen: Portraits of a Place at Westfield Belconnen.

Make no mistake about it: the success of the Master Plan—and the future of Belconnen Town Centre —will be dependent on the contributions received from the community.

Don’t miss out on your chance to make a difference!

Submit your ideas with a ‘sausage sanga’

The Belconnen Community Council are working together with the Belconnen Community Service and Belconnen Arts Centre to ensure everyone can submit their ideas for the update to the Belconnen Town Centre Master plan. There’ll be a final opportunity to submit your ideas on Thursday 29 January from 5pm onwards at the Belconnen Arts Centre where a free sausage sizzle will be taking place. So what are you waiting for? No excuse to run home for dinner, it’ll be provided for you!