Community feedback and September drop-in sessions
CSIRO scientist Guy Barnett speaking at the Charnwood drop-in session.
CSIRO scientist Guy Barnett speaking at the Charnwood drop-in session.
During September we held three drop-in and information sessions in Evatt, Gold Creek and Charnwood to listen to your comments and answer your questions about the future of the Ginninderra Field Station.
The focus was discussing the CSIRO proposal with residents living in the suburbs surrounding the Ginninderra Field Station: Fraser, Evatt, Spence, McKellar, Giralang, Crace, Nicholls and Hall.
It was fantastic to see so many people who wanted to find out more about the Ginninderra site and speak to the project team. A total of 224 people came along, which shows the high level of interest from the community.
In addition to attendance at events, we have also received over 60 written comments and questions via comment forms and email.
It’s important for us to understand community views in order to make the right decisions for the site in the future.
Thank you for coming along, asking questions, and for your understanding in relation to questions we don’t have the answers to yet.
From the feedback we’ve received so far, a number of clear themes have emerged. These themes include:
- Interest in maintaining the environmental value of the site, including retaining green spaces and corridors and continued protection of protected or endangered species
- The inclusion of community facilities and open spaces in any future development
- That any future development should be sustainable and well-planned, and consider large block sizes
- The need for additional services, for example schools, shops, sports facilities and medical services
- Consideration of traffic and road infrastructure, noting current safety and congestion issues on the roads bordering the Ginninderra Field Station
- CSIRO’s ongoing involvement in the future development of the site
In addition to the drop-in sessions held in September, we’ve also spoken to local groups such as community councils, environmental associations, industry bodies, welfare and social service organisations, and businesses. These discussions will be ongoing and if you are part of a local group that would like to meet with us, please let us know via the contact page.
The comments and feedback we have received so far will be de-identified and passed on to the National Capital Authority (NCA) as part of their consultation phase on the reclassified use of this land.
The NCA consultation process started on 1 October 2015 and runs until 13 November 2015. You can find out more about leaving feedback or attending an event on the NCA website.
While we welcome your comments at any time via the contact page, we won’t be holding any CSIRO drop-in sessions during the NCA consultation process.
Over the coming weeks, we’ll be exploring some of the key themes in more detail in the News section of this website, so check back each week for updates.
Don’t forget if you’d like updates straight to your inbox you can subscribe to our monthly email updates.
We look forward to continuing the conversation about the future of the Ginninderra Field Station.
13 October 2015 at 6:50 am
Is the EIS and other environmental management reports available in hard copy please. Is the HazChem register of all activities on this site since 1958 available in hard copy? The withholding period of chemicals (and seeds) is very long. Residues can remain in the soil for certainly more than 57 years.
22 October 2015 at 5:29 pm
Hi Russ,
Thank you for your feedback regarding the CSIRO Ginninderra site.
We have undertaken several phases of environmental assessment at the site including sampling and analysis of soil, sediment, surface water and groundwater and have appointed an independent accredited site auditor to review the existing reports and the sampling, analysis and quality plan for the current phase of targeted environmental site assessment works. When these works and other related heritage and ecological studies are finalised we will refer this to the Department of the Environment under the EPBC Act (1999) to undertake the environmental assessment process. The reports will become public at this time and the need for an EIS and/or other further studies will then be determined.
We appreciate your interest and welcome further feedback you may have as we progress.
14 October 2015 at 7:36 am
This is the first I’ve heard of this! I live in Fraser and have received no information whatsoever!
22 October 2015 at 5:21 pm
Thank you for your comment.
Sorry to hear that you were not previously made aware of the intended changes to the Ginninderra Field Station. CSIRO undertook a number of activities to inform residents and the community about the proposed changes to the National Capital Plan, including a letterbox drop to all residents in the surrounding suburbs. Unfortunately it appears that not everyone received notification of these drop-in sessions via the letterbox drop.
On 30 September the National Capital Authority released the Draft Amendment and is currently undertaking a six week consultation process. Further information on the NCA consultation activities is available on the NCA website: https://www.nationalcapital.gov.au/index.php/commitment-to-community-engagement/national-capital-plan-draft-amendment-86
Once the National Capital Authority public consultation process is finished, we will be able to undertake further drop-in sessions to get further feedback from the community.
In the meantime you can also submit comments and questions to the NCA and/or to CSIRO via the contact page of this website.