Section 49 Parkes and Part Section 80 Russell

A new Commonwealth building project is being delivered by the Department of Finance and Deregulation on Constitution Avenue, Parkes (Section 49 and Part Section 80 Russell). This is ‘National Land’, being land designated for Commonwealth Government purposes.

Located in a Designated Area defined within the National Capital Plan, the proposed land use of a Commonwealth office building is consistent with the land use policy included in the National Capital Plan for this site.

Following detailed evaluation of the design options the National Capital Authority endorsed the concept plans for the project in mid-2008 subject to approval of the proposal by the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts (DEWHA) under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999.

Works cannot commence without the prior approval of the National Capital Authority. To obtain the necessary statutory approvals, a Works Application is required to be made to the National Capital Authority. This will involve the submission of detailed plans. These must be consistent with the provisions of the National Capital Plan.

The National Capital Authority has been consulted regularly in the preparation of design concepts and preliminary sketch plans for the proposal. A formal review of the proposal has been undertaken by the National Capital Authority. To date, the National Capital Authority has granted works approval for site establishment, tree removal, initial site servicing and some excavation.

The proposed development is consistent with the Principles, Policies and Standards established for Constitution Avenue by Amendment 60 – Constitution Avenue to the National Capital Plan (new Section 1.5). This Amendment, now incorporated in the National Capital Plan, includes Detailed Conditions of Planning Design and Development for Constitution Avenue and Anzac Parade, which provides the planning framework for determination of Works Approval for the project site.

Overall, the design proposal creates a parkland setting for the building. The design proposal reflects the specific site situation and conditions. The building is of a scale similar to that indicated in Amendment 60 to the National Capital Plan. The landscape approach creates a formal approach from the north (responding to Constitution Avenue) and a naturalistic approach from the south (responding to the parkland lake edge). Landscape spaces in and around the building are more highly detailed.

On 25 March 2009 the proposal was referred to DEWHA for consideration under the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999. The referral to DEWHA addressed the impact of the proposal on natural and cultural heritage values. On 23 April 2009, following the statutory 20 day consultation period DEWHA determined that the proposal was a non- controlled action which does not require additional assessment by them.

• An overview of the project is available from the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation website: http://www.asio.gov.au/Media/Contents/new_central_office.aspx
• The referral is available from the Department of Environment, Water, Heritage and the Arts website: http://www.environment.gov.au/cgi-bin/epbc/epbc_ap.pl?name=current_referral_detail&proposal_id=4814
• New Building Project Traffic Update commencing 27 August 2009 -
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