Support small business in Canberra
Support small business in Canberra
The issue
Please show your support to over 80 Inner South Canberra business owners who have thrown their support behind a new boutique hotel and cinema proposal in Manuka and sent a letter to the local Planning Minister Mick Gentleman. They’re calling on the ACT Government to reverse the decision of the Conservator for Flora and Fauna, Mr Ian Walker and deregister a destructive London Plane tree to allow the redevelopment to proceed.
We all love trees more than anything but the decision to protect the tree has not taken the local small business community’s needs into account and ignores all evidence from engineers, arborists, landscape architects, and town planners about the damage the tree is doing.
The tree should never have been planted in such a small area or protected as it has grown up into the easement between two existing buildings on Franklin Street where its roots have spread throughout the entire block and into the sewer, creating structural damage, destroying pipes and cracking the wall of the existing cinema. The building is now untenanted and an eyesore facing onto Canberra Avenue and the iconic Manuka Oval which hosts national and international sporting events and attracts thousands of visitors to the area.
The decision to protect the tree negatively impacts on the much needed revitalisation and development of Manuka village, hundreds of jobs, and the potential for tens of millions of dollars to boost the local Canberra economy.
The hotel proposal can not incorporate the tree into its design so the developer has offered to plant trees elsewhere as an offset.
Other major developments by the Catholic Church in Franklin Street including the Education Centre and apartment block required tree removal to clear the site. Why did the opposers not apply to have those trees protected?
Show your support for jobs and local small business by signing and sharing this petition asking the Planning Minister Mick Gentleman and The ACT Government to reverse their decision on the protection order of the tree to allow to redevelopment to proceed.
Victory
The issue
Please show your support to over 80 Inner South Canberra business owners who have thrown their support behind a new boutique hotel and cinema proposal in Manuka and sent a letter to the local Planning Minister Mick Gentleman. They’re calling on the ACT Government to reverse the decision of the Conservator for Flora and Fauna, Mr Ian Walker and deregister a destructive London Plane tree to allow the redevelopment to proceed.
We all love trees more than anything but the decision to protect the tree has not taken the local small business community’s needs into account and ignores all evidence from engineers, arborists, landscape architects, and town planners about the damage the tree is doing.
The tree should never have been planted in such a small area or protected as it has grown up into the easement between two existing buildings on Franklin Street where its roots have spread throughout the entire block and into the sewer, creating structural damage, destroying pipes and cracking the wall of the existing cinema. The building is now untenanted and an eyesore facing onto Canberra Avenue and the iconic Manuka Oval which hosts national and international sporting events and attracts thousands of visitors to the area.
The decision to protect the tree negatively impacts on the much needed revitalisation and development of Manuka village, hundreds of jobs, and the potential for tens of millions of dollars to boost the local Canberra economy.
The hotel proposal can not incorporate the tree into its design so the developer has offered to plant trees elsewhere as an offset.
Other major developments by the Catholic Church in Franklin Street including the Education Centre and apartment block required tree removal to clear the site. Why did the opposers not apply to have those trees protected?
Show your support for jobs and local small business by signing and sharing this petition asking the Planning Minister Mick Gentleman and The ACT Government to reverse their decision on the protection order of the tree to allow to redevelopment to proceed.
Victory
Share this petition
The Decision Makers
Petition Updates
Share this petition
Petition created on 20 June 2019