Belconnen

:"For the Canberra suburb of Belconnen see: Belconnen, Australian Capital Territory"Belconnen is a district of Canberra, the Capital city of Australia, comprising 25 suburbs with 29,900 dwellings housing 82,247 people of the 311,518 people in the Australian Capital Territory (June 2001 Census).

Belconnen is situated to the north-west of Canberra's city centre, and surrounds Lake Ginninderra (artificial) on Ginninderra Creek that runs north-west towards the Molonglo River and then into the Murrumbidgee River.'

Urban structure

Belconnen consists of 25 suburbs, the majority of which are predominantly characterised by detached single family homes on suburban blocks. Some suburbs also have pockets of medium density units or town houses, such as Hawker and Holt. Significant pockets of multi-unit medium density housing exist in the suburb of Belconnen, and the northern section of Bruce. In both of these suburbs, the bulk of housing is medium density. Residential development is still taking place in the central suburb of Bruce and the outer suburb of Dunlop in 2005.

There is no industry in Belconnen, other than light automotive repair industry and similar services and the Westfield Belconnen shopping centre located in the Belconnen Town Centre.

Transport

The primary mode of transport within the District is by private vehicle. The District of Belconnen was planned in the 1960’s and was guided by a philosophy of reliance on private personal transport and an abundance of roads. Public buses serve the district and a bus interchange exists in the Town Centre.

Roads

Belconnen is well served by a network of near-freeway-quality roads located between suburbs and intersecting the district. The main roads between suburbs are typically landscaped with mounds of earth and vegetation to form ‘parkways’.

The main roads connecting the district with North Canberra and the city centre are Belconnen Way and Ginninderra Drive. These roads are 6 lane parkways for the majority of their length and run in an east-west direction. Belconnen is situated south of the Barton Highway which leads to Yass, where it connects with the Hume Highway to Sydney and Melbourne. To the south of the district is William Hovell Drive which connects the southern and western suburbs of Belconnen with Parkes Way and the Tuggeranong Parkway which lead to the city centre and Canberra’s southern districts respectively.

Public Transport

The ACTION bus service which provides public transport throughout Canberra is the only form of regularly scheduled public transport in Belconnen. Services from the various suburbs generally pass through a bus interchange at Belconnen Town Centre from where they continue to Civic and the other town centres to Canberra’s south. Some services travel to Gungahlin. There are also express services which connect directly with Tuggeranong.

The bus interchange located in the Belconnen Town centre is connected by footbridge to large shopping centre and to office buildings occupied by major Government departments. It is an ageing facility which has been earmarked for major renovations. It has been criticised for being unsafe, particularly at night, and for being dirty and prone to vandalism.

The ACT Government plans to construct a busway to connect the Belconnen Town centre with the hospital and CIT precinct in Bruce and the city centre

Gungahlin Drive Extension

In November 2004 construction commenced on the Gungahlin Drive Extension (GDE). This road is to connect Gungahlin Drive in Gungahlin with Parkes Way and the Tuggeranong Parkway at the Glenloch Interchange at the south eastern corner of the Belconnen district. The proposed road will run north south passing through forest and woodlands within the Canberra Nature Park, including parts of the Black Mountain Reserve. It will also pass beside the Australian Institute of Sport. The project has been a major political issue is eastern Belconnen since the late 1990s. The 'Save the Ridge' group had campaigned against the proposed road since that time and took legal action which stalled the project until October 2005. The ACT Government had legislated to prevent further legal delays from community groups however this did not affected Save the Ridge continuing action which they had commenced in the Federal Court. After several cases before the ACT Supreme Court and the Federal Court, the Federal Court ruled in favour of the road construction project going ahead. On 15 October 2005 Save the Ridge announced that they would not be appealing the decision to the High Court and would not be further opposing the construction of the road.

History

Work was begun on Belconnen in 1966. A stone tablet at the Aranda district playing fields marks the beginning of the development of Belconnen district. It reads::"This tablet marks the inauguration of development of the district of Belconnen by the Minister of State for the Interior The Honourable J. D. Anthony, M.P. 23rd June 1966"The first suburb to be developed was Aranda in 1967. The nearby Jamison Centre was the first commercial centre in the district, opened in 1969. The Belconnen Town Centre was developed on the shore of Lake Ginninderra in the late 1970s.

Belconnen is named after the original land grant of 800 ha to Charles Sturt the explorer for his exploration work. Sturt sold the property to Charles Campbell. [ * "Exploring the ACT and Southeast New South Wales", J. Kay McDonald, Kangaroo Press, Sydney, 1985 ISBN 0-86417-049-1 ]

Education

The University of Canberra is located in the suburb of Bruce and has a student population of approximately 10,000. A Canberra Institute of Technology (CIT) campus is also in Bruce.

The Australian Capital Territory Government operates 23 Preschools, 19 Primary Schools, 5 High Schools and 3 Colleges (Senior Secondary Schools) within the District of Belconnen. There are also 8 Independent schools (including religious schools) and one Government special school for students with disabilities.

Places of note and interest

* The Belconnen Town Centre has a major shopping mall operated by Westfield, surrounded by government and private offices, and a light industrial area.
* Government offices headquartered in Belconnen include the Australian Taxation Office, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship, the [http://www.acma.gov.au Australian Communication and Media Authority] , and the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
* In the suburb of Bruce are:
**University of Canberra campus
**Canberra Stadium
**Australian Institute of Sport
* The Royal Australian Navy established a very low and high frequency radio transmitting station in Belconnen in the 1930s, predating the establishment of Belconnen as a suburban complex. Part of the site will become the new suburb of Lawson from 2005/6.
** The three 600 foot high towers for the now decommissioned 44 kHz transmitter were able to be seen from most places in Belconnen. They were felled on 20 December 2006.
*Belconnen Remand Centre is a remand custody facility. Sentenced prisoners in the ACT serve their sentences in prisons in neighbouring New South Wales.

References

External links

* [http://www.suburbs.canberra.net.au/regionma/Fdisbelc.htm Belconnen suburbs map] - links to [http://www.act.gov.au ACT Government] street-level maps.
* [http://www.suburbs.canberra.net.au/html/fsregion.htm Canberra region map] - all districts
* [http://www.abs.gov.au Australian Bureau of Statistics]
** [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40census.nsf/ddc9b4f92657325cca256c3e000bdbaf/33b7d51309a6097dca256bbf0001cba2!OpenDocument 80510 Belconnen (Statistical Subdivision)]
** [http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs%40census.nsf/4079a1bbd2a04b80ca256b9d00208f92/500602ae851edf97ca256bbf0001c9ed!OpenDocument#CensusCounts ACT - Basic Community Profile and Snapshot - 2001 Census]
* Video of Belconnen Naval Transmitting Towers being felled (20 December 2006):
**Tower 1 (72s) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KZ_tXJN1YJU]
**Towers 2&3 (63s) [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFVuUybBkRg]