The Western Edge borders the Murrumbidgee River. Photo: Mark Jekabson.
Molonglo should be the end of the road for urban development in Canberra’s west, ACT Conservation Council executive director Simon Copland says.
Dr Copland was speaking at the launch of a council campaign to ensure the preservation of the so-called Western Edge, a 10,000 hectare stretch of land from Belconnen to Tuggeranong that the government has been looking at for more than a decade.
In the lead-up to the mid-2027 deadline for the government to set an urban growth boundary for Canberra, the council wants to ensure there are no carve-outs for new suburbs beyond Molonglo or Weston Creek.
In April, the Legislative Assembly supported a motion from Greens Deputy Leader Jo Clay, which called on the government to agree to release an amendment to the Territory Plan to establish the urban growth boundary by June 2027.
Dr Copland said while some areas had higher conservation values than others, all of the Western Edge should be preserved.
He said most of the Western Edge was box woodland and would be near impossible to develop.
“That’s one of the big issues. To develop out there you would inevitably have to destroy quite significant areas of woodland, which we oppose, particularly given it’s a threatened ecosystem,” Dr Copland said.
“We’re also saying we should not be building there because it’s just not good for the future of the city to be continuing to sprawl in this way.”
Dr Copland said it was much better for residents to be close to services, the city and town centres rather than building suburbs an hour’s drive from the CBD.
He said Canberra covered the same sized area as metropolitan London and there was huge capacity for decent infill development that was less of an impact on the environment.
The government is continuing its investigations into the Western Edge, some of which it land-banked somewhat controversially last decade before having to establish a boundary.
As well as possible new suburbs, the studies will identify areas suitable for new nature reserves, environmental offsets, heritage conservation, other uses such as rural, broadacre, infrastructure, transport and services.
Dr Copland said the campaign, including a Legislative Assembly petition, wanted the government to rule out any development on the Western Edge lands.
The petition calls for the Western Edge to be kept outside the ACT urban boundary, removed from development plans and for it to be sufficiently protected and managed for its ecological, cultural and recreational values.
The council views the Western Edge as a natural urban and bushfire buffer, a fauna and flora sanctuary, recreation area and a place of Ngunnawal history and culture.
Dr Copland said the campaign was a proactive measure to push the government to take the Western Edge off the development table.
The council is also calling on community members to lobby their MLAs.
