MANY people only ever observe Canberra from a car window, and the ACT Government is going to change that view, according to Andrew Barr.

“There’s a lot of spaces in the city that are looked at from that vantage point; not from the vantage point of people, pedestrians, cyclists in terms of usable spaces,” the Deputy Chief Minister, Treasurer and Minister for Economic Development Andrew Barr told “CityNews”.

And things are changing with the long list of projects, part of the “Canberra City Action Plan”, that are well on their way to completion.

One controversial move includes revisiting the failed sale of the Government-owned car park on London Circuit, next to Canberra Museum and Gallery.

“I think it’s unsustainable in the long term, given the amount of land available in the CBD, to think we’ll continue to maintain surface car parking forever,” Barr said.

The Government has earmarked the block for a five-star hotel; a plan Barr hopes will encourage more people and more competition to the accommodation market.

“There is a need for more hotel accommodation in Canberra. Industry has indicated in the context of our ability to host major events and to be a player in that sort of space, we would need more accommodation in the higher end,” he said.

The number of hotel rooms in the city was on the decline with many two and three-star properties taken off the market and replaced with residential property, he said.

“If we get some new players in town, they are potential partners with National Capital Tourism in marketing and promotion,” said Barr.

“So that’s why we are keen for another internationally known brand to come into the marketplace.”

Barr concedes that earmarking the land for a hotel has some difficulties, because “hotels aren’t the highest return on commercial land”, however he says despite the lower return, the investment would meet a specific need in the marketplace.

But that’s not the ACT Government’s biggest issue; Barr said the greatest challenge for the CBD was City Hill.

“Nearly every Canberran would have driven past at 60 km/h but very little people would have set foot on the hill and that is a problem,” he said.

“The way that you get access to that and change the dynamic of City Hill is entirely linked to the extension of Constitution Avenue and Edinburgh Avenue to Vernon Circle.

“The trigger projects for that are Section 63, the Leighton and Mirvac development, and the Commonwealth Government funding that’s been provided for duplication of Constitution Avenue.”

However, since its sale in 2007 for $92 million, Leighton Properties and Mirvac Projects are yet to secure a tenant.

“They’ve been shopping around for a Commonwealth tenant for some time,” he said.

“I anticipate they will be a significant player in bidding for the ACT Government tenancies, they were pretty quick to seek some particular clarification around our announcement on the changed delivery for ACT Government accommodation needs.”

Barr said that within the lease variation charge framework was the capacity to offer concessions to developers “provided there are some social returns”.

“Examples of that would be improved environmental outcomes, an affordable housing component within those urban renewal projects, or a significant upgrade to the public realm,” he said.

“So, if a developer wanted to turn an old Government building into something else, but upgrade the areas around, we’d look at providing some tax incentives to do that.

“That’s a direction option we are thinking of doing.”