CANBERRA CBD Limited has launched an unprecedented attack on the Capital Metro draft environmental impact statement:

The EIS states that the Melbourne building / Magistrates car park will be a Works Depot for four years!

• In the absence of a master plan, and decision to connect with the Russell employment node, it is difficult to promote the benefits to the older mid-city precinct traders when the City station is far north of the east/west pedestrian movement patterns.
• We strongly object to the car park nearby the Melbourne building and Magistrate’s Court being used as a construction compound.
• We encourage government to model the impacts and identify a compound site elsewhere in the corridor.
• We asked government to take a whole-of-government approach to the CBD.
• Increased car parking charges and hours for the Sydney building car park, untimely investment in West Basin, absence of a metropolitan response to planning, urban renewal on territory owned land and not the decaying older parts of the CBD are damaging to the economic and socio-cultural health and expected role of the city’s heart.
• Together we can expect continuing record-high vacancies, declining land and property values, absence of potential tenants, stressed rates payers, declining revenue to government, dismayed industry groups, disorientated tourists, conflict between residents and noise generators, stretched municipal services and business and customers going elsewhere because of inequitable problems such as parking.
• Traders in the older mid-city precinct including the Sydney and Melbourne buildings are strongly opinionated and this compound is highly likely to be damaging to the reputation of government.