Capital Ambience
A development proposed for the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin was not part of Menzies’ plan for our national capital. By David Furse-Roberts.
The ACT government has flagged proposals to develop the West Basin of Lake Burley Griffin into a new pedestrian and residential precinct. With the development estimated to cost $35 million over the next two years, it would begin with extending the lakeside boardwalk and reclaiming the lake-bed. The centrepiece, however, would be the eventual construction of 2,000 apartments behind lakeside parkland.
Whilst the ACT government evidently views this project as a boon for Canberra, it has attracted sharp criticism from both the ACT Opposition and longstanding Canberra residents who fear that it will disturb the beauty of the city’s lake and character of the national capital.
A spokesperson for the ACT Opposition said that whilst the Canberra Liberals welcome investment in commercial and residential enterprises, the best precincts for redevelopment would be in the existing Civic and town centre boundaries, such as Garema Place.
The West Basin, by contrast, would be wholly inappropriate as the extent of development foreshadowed would bring undesirable changes to the ambiance of the lake foreshore. Accordingly, the Liberal Opposition has called for “a moratorium on any development of the West Basin site for at least the length of the next term of government”.
Justification for the West Basin development has also been questioned by locals. In a letter to the Canberra Times, Penleigh Boyd of Reid said that the West Basin project could not be compared to the redevelopment of the Kingston Foreshore. “Whereas Kingston Foreshore was a parcel of post-industrial land needing a new use, the park at West Basin is public land and a community asset”. So, clearly, the precinct is valued by Canberra residents for reasons of public and practical utility, as well as aesthetic considerations.
The most telling criticism of the project, however, is from the daughter of the man to whom Canberra’s development as our national capital owes so much. Heather Henderson, the daughter of Sir Robert Menzies, decried the whole proposal as “irrational, unnecessary, and indeed vandalism on a grand scale”. Praising Lake Burley Griffin as “one of the treasures of Canberra”, she evidently saw the prospect of unsightly apartments crowding its Western Basin as a gross betrayal of her father’s vision.
What, then, was Menzies’ vision for Australia’s national capital when he made the development of Canberra one of his government’s signature projects? In particular, how would Lake Burley Griffin feature in that vision? In a speech to mark the inauguration of the Lake on 17 October 1964, Menzies declared this milestone to be a “matter of national importance” because, “as people understand that this is the capital of the nation, a capital of which they may be proud… this lake is good for you and me, good for this city, good for Australia, good for the spirit of the nation, a spirit that will last beyond any of the prejudices of today.”
In 1964, it was already evident to Menzies that the lake would bring an enduring quality to the character of the national capital. Penning his second volume of memoirs in 1970, The Measure of the Years, Menzies remarked again on this focal feature of Australia’s capital:
“Well in due course, the dam at Yarralumla was built and the lake was completed. Two splendid bridges, I think of great architectural distinction, had been built, and we were able to gaze over an irregularly shaped three square miles of water shining like a jewel in the middle of the city…
“There was, and is, a setting of parks of great beauty and, looking from the university end of the lake, the splendid backdrop of the blue Murrumbidgee Ranges. All fears were dissipated. Canberra had emerged as a lovely city.”
For Menzies, the purpose of the lake extended far beyond mere functionality to the beauty it would bring to the emerging capital. Much of that beauty, of course, resided in the parklands encircling its waters. Disregarding the naysayers and critics of Canberra’s Lake project, the prime minister persevered, driven by his prescience that the lake would gift Canberra with a timeless feature and attraction.
Given this vision that Menzies entertained for Lake Burley Griffin and the capital city as a whole, the development of the West Basin with the construction of some 2,000 apartments would be incongruous with the original plans Menzies had for Canberra. Like today’s Liberal Party, Robert Menzies was in favour of investment and development but never to the detriment of the beauty and open spaces afforded by such attractions as Lake Burley Griffin for the greater public good.