What’s next?
The National Capital Authority (NCA) has accepted our request for the Ginninderra Site to be considered as ‘Urban Area’ in the National Capital Plan Draft Amendment 86 released in September 2015.
But we are still only at the beginning.
This request paves the way for new opportunities for this land’s use. While it’s too early to know exactly how the land would be used, an urban area classification allows for future uses including residential, commercial, community services, recreation and conservation areas. We will continue to request input from you, ACT residents, on the future of this site.
Our consultation sessions held it Evatt, Gold Creek and Fraser were well attended with more than 300 people taking the time to talk to us about their ideas for the future of the site.
We’ve also met with community groups, conservation groups and residents, and we would like to thank everyone who took the time to attend a meeting or a drop in session. Your feedback means a lot to us and will help shape the future of the site.
The National Capital Authority will be running its own consultation process for 6 weeks until 13 November 2015. For more information and to leave comments or feedback visit the NCA website.
If you have any further suggestions, concerns or ideas regarding the future use of the Ginninderra Field Station, please submit your feedback to the NCA or directly to CSIRO. You can contact us directly through the contact page.
Seizing new opportunities
For nearly 100 years, CSIRO has driven scientific innovation in Australia. Since it was established in 1926, CSIRO has built on its initial mandate to carry out scientific research in farming, mining and manufacturing.
CSIRO has been in Canberra since 1927, and currently holds seven sites and properties in the ACT. One of these is the Ginninderra Field Station, which has been used for agricultural research for over 50 years.
The city of Canberra has grown up around the site, with suburbs surrounding nearly all sides of the property, which has led the CSIRO explore the site’s future urban development opportunities.
Exploring the site’s future urban potential also offers the opportunity for CSIRO to reinvest in its infrastructure to make sure it can continue carrying out world-class science.
CSIRO holds an extensive property portfolio across Australia and internationally. Property holdings
are regularly reviewed through an ongoing strategic review processes to identify sites that are underutilised and opportunities to reinvest in CSIRO’s infrastructure to continue delivering world-class science.
Agricultural research sites in Canberra have already shifted multiple times to accommodate urban development.
CSIRO Agriculture Director, Dr John Manners, recalls;
“CSIRO has used the Ginninderra Field Station since 1958. Prior to that we had field facilities where the current airport is located and also where the Dickson shops are located now. Part of this site has actually already been rezoned and used for urban development in Crace.”
The facilities at Ginninderra, he says, are aging and need renewing. Given much of the land at Ginninderra is underutilised, moving agricultural research to another location means the new space can be used efficiently and incorporate new technology into CSIRO’s research.
“The Ginninderra field station occupies about 700 hectares of land. A lot of that land at the moment is underutilised in our research, so if we start a new site for experimental research we can optimise our use of the land,” says Manners.