Community council hopes Dickson on Northbourne delivers quality precinct

Community representatives hope the development of a mixed-use precinct on Northbourne Avenue will not contribute to a “glut” of one-bedroom apartments towering above the treetops.

The ACT government on Friday announced the sale of 30,000 square metres of land on the former sites of the Dickson Towers and Karuah public housing blocks and the original tourist visitor information centre.

The Dickson on Northbourne block has been earmarked for a mix of retail, commercial and residential development, including 697 dwellings, and will be sold at auction in August.

North Canberra Community Council chairman Mike Hettinger​ said his group hoped to see a quality development built on the site. 

“I suppose one of the concerns here is what the long-term look and feel is going to be,” he said.

“You don’t want to find they’ve replaced a bunch of dilapidated old buildings with a bunch of dilapidated new buildings.

“This is going to be here for decades and we want it to look good.”

Mr Hettinger said he was keen to find out what mix of dwellings would be offered as part of the project and what projections the proposed number of homes was based on.

He said he was also concerned about the scale of buildings along the strip.

“It depends what’s built and how tall and how big and the make-up – 697 is a lot,” he said. 

“You can still get reasonable medium-to-high density without going way up.

“We want to make sure the planning reflects the projections. I’m not sure what homework has been done on this in relation to anything done along Northbourne Avenue.”

The council is among a number of stakeholders engaged with the development of the the $56-million Coles Doma development at the Dickson shops, which will bring Coles, Aldi and 140 apartments to the northern group centre.

Community representatives have pushed for less one-bedroom and more three-bedroom units at the Coles-Doma site.

Similarly, Mr Hettinger said he hoped the Dickson on Northbourne project wouldn’t add to a “glut” of one bedroom apartments. 

“We don’t want this to be a bunch of empty flats,” he said.

Mr Hettinger expected extra people in the area to be a plus for businesses at the Dickson shops however, was concerned about increased traffic.

The site includes 500 metres of Northbourne Avenue frontage and is within walking distance of the Dickson Group Centre.

“It will be good for the shops … assuming that’s where they go to do their shopping,” he said.

“If they are going to shop and they’re doing a big shop they’re probably going to drive. That raises whether or not parking at the new shopping centre [can support the extra traffic].”

Mr Hettinger said inadequate parking at the shops would spark traffic problems and see an overflow of cars, impacting residents living nearby.