The ACT's Heritage Minister has been left disappointed after the federal government knocked back a 13-year-old nomination to list Canberra on the national heritage list on the eve of the federal election.
Federal Environment Minister Sussan Ley rejected the nomination, which had been endorsed by the Australian Heritage Council, partly because the ACT government never stated a formal position on the potential listing for the city.
Meanwhile, a new heritage listing of Lake Burley Griffin, its surrounding areas and bridges will add another layer of complication to the forthcoming Woden light rail project.
The ACT government was unable to say on Monday night what ramifications the protections for the lake would have on its planned infrastructure projects.
ACT Heritage Minister Rebecca Vassarotti said listing Canberra would have brought international recognition to the capital.
"Heritage listing of Canberra would have sent a strong signal to the local community about our commitment to value the shape and character of our city and provide the opportunity to value key elements of our city, while enabling it to evolve as a modern city," Ms Vassarotti said.
But an ACT government spokeswoman said the government accepted the decision and would not pursue the matter any further.
"As a growing city, and one that must continue to adapt to climate change and changing economic and political circumstances, we acknowledge there is a need for flexibility in policy responses," the spokeswoman said.
"The landscape character of our city is of great value to Canberrans, and we have a number of protections in place within our ACT planning system to ensure this character is carried on throughout our city. Many of the early suburb attributes are already protected in the National Capital Plan or have their own heritage protections."
Ms Ley formally knocked back the nomination, which was made in June 2009, on April 8, the final business day before the election was called.
The Australian Heritage Council had recommended Canberra be added to the national heritage list, but Ms Ley cited the ACT government's failure to state a formal position on the potential listing as a key reason she rejected the nomination.
The council found Canberra met the requirements of five areas in the heritage list criteria, including that the city was important to the course or pattern of Australia's natural or cultural history, and it demonstrated a high degree of creative or technical achievement.
The then-acting chief minister, Yvette Berry, wrote to Ms Ley late last year to urge her to consider the risks to Canberra's future development if the city was placed on the heritage register.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr had previously criticised the nomination for the city, and put forward an alternative smaller area for protection.
"The ACT government does not support our entire city being frozen in time on the heritage list," Mr Barr said in 2017.
Ms Vassarotti in March declared her support for listing the city, writing for The Canberra Times the proposed listing was more focused on preserving intangible qualities of the capital rather than freezing buildings in time.
"It's about preserving the underlying form of one of the world's first - and in my enthusiastic opinion, most successful - planned cities," she wrote.
Dr Ed Wensing, part of a group which originally nominated the city, said Ms Ley's decision had made him livid and he would call on future federal governments to reconsider the decision.
"This is the best example of 20th century garden city planning in the world, and it's at risk of being eroded without significant parts of Canberra being added to the national heritage list," Dr Wensing, a senior lecturer in the School of Built Environment at the University of NSW, said.
Dr Wensing said part of the intention for listing the city was to eventually achieve a listing on the World Heritage list, which was not about preventing development but strengthening and protecting the city's unique attributes: a polycentric and linear employment base spread over town centres, development along a Y-formation and other garden city principles.
"This fallacy that it will stop development is a complete furphy. A complete and utter nonsense," he said.
There were two nominations for Canberra, which the Australian Heritage Council considered together and from which they made one set of recommendations to the Environment Minister. The council's advice has not been released.
The heritage listing for Lake Burley Griffin includes a 6640 hectare area of Lake Burley Griffin and its surrounds on the Commonwealth heritage list, a notice published on Monday in the government's gazette said.
The listing includes Scrivener Dam, Commonwealth Avenue Bridge and Kings Avenue Bridge, along with areas around the lake.
The citation for the heritage listing noted the lake's association with the original city design competition for the Australian capital, and its construction progress marking milestones in Canberra's development.
"The lake's design and form reflect the story of its development including the tensions between designers, administrators and politicians in the development of the capital," the citation said.
The citation also noted the lake provided habitats for both rare plant and animal species, including the Striped Legless Lizard, the Perunga Grasshopper, the Golden Sun Moth and the Gang-gang Cockatoo, which all face different levels of extinction risk.
The decision to list the lake and surrounding areas was also taken on Friday, April 8. The election was called on Sunday, April 10.
