I first moved to Belconnen as an 18 year-old university student. For three years, the path from ‘new ressies’ on the University of Canberra campus to Belconnen Mall (with frequent pitstops at ‘Sails’ – now ‘The Lighthouse‘) was well beaten. Back then, the bus interchange was a gloomy subterranean concrete jungle, Westfield didn’t have a designer interior, and Sizzler was perhaps the most popular restaurant in the area.

Lake Ginninderra is considered an asset, but people want to see it better utilised.

How things have changed in 20 years. Last weekend, we took a drive northside and I took a moment to reflect on the transformation of Belconnen Town Centre – while there are still familiar sights, today’s landscape (indeed, the very ‘feel’ of the place) is very different.

It’s this development that is a focus of the Belconnen Community Council (BCC) – an apolitical, voluntary community group (not a local government body) that “aims to foster community identity, ensure the community’s interests are represented and promoted – particularly when commenting on Government initiatives – and maintain and improve the quality of life in Belconnen.”

Tara Cheyne (who you may know from her blog, In The Taratory) is Deputy Chair of the BCC, a position she takes great pride in.

“I’m really passionate about Belconnen. I love the Town Centre, and the broader district, and I want to be directly involved in representing the Belconnen community, particularly regarding decisions about Belco’s future,” she says.

But it’s not just Committee members who can get involved. Any person who lives (or owns a property), works (or owns a business) or studies in Belconnen is a nominal member of the Council. Public meetings are held each month, covering topics of interest to the community, often acting as a forum for community members to provide direct feedback to Government officials or developers.

Most recently, the BCC’s focus has been on looking forward to the next iteration of The Belconnen Town Centre Master Plan, which is due to be updated in 2015. Master plans set out how a particular area can develop and redevelop and are an important guide to future growth; Tara says that the Council believes the 2015 Master Plan needs to be evidence-based, and meaningful – what’s in it can be ambitious, but it needs to be achievable.

People want to see more cafes and restaurants that have a better connection with the lake.

“Being involved in this Master Plan is going to be a big area of activity for the Council over the next year, and in our representations we want to make sure we have a deep understanding of the community’s views about the Town Centre. So, we designed a survey which asked people to really think about what works in the Town Centre? What really doesn’t work? What things would they change? We had over 200 respondents from all over Canberra which was hugely encouraging.”

So, what do people who work, live or study in Belconnen think about their Town Centre? Tara revealed that one of the strongest messages is that people want to see more street-level amenity and greater connectivity.

“There are pretty distinct areas of activity in the Town Centre, and some of them are a long way away from each other. Think of the distance between Belconnen Markets and Westfield, or between Emu Bank and the industrial area,” she says.

“Westfield is also largely internally facing, and people would love to see it better integrated with the area around it – it’s right next to the lake (and has great views of it!), a stone’s throw from the Arts Centre, and there’s a park right across the road from it.

“Unsurprisingly, people want better parking – more convenient parking, easier parking, and cheaper parking. They also want to see Lake Ginninderra utilised much more – more cafes and restaurants around it, and more activities or markets.”

View from the Westfield car park on level three over Lake Ginninderra.

But there were a few things that came as a surprise to the Council, Firstly, that there was no clear majority regarding restricting height limits of buildings in the Town Centre.

“Rather, respondents want a range of issues to be properly addressed – ie a new building can be tall so long as it doesn’t take away parking or green spaces, nor create lengthy shadows or wind tunnels,” Tara says, commenting that clarity from the community is important.

“The other theme is that so many of these issues have persisted over many years. Many issues raised, like making better use of Lake Ginninderra, were present in the 2001 Master Plan. The community clearly feels that we haven’t got there yet.”

Tara says that the survey has given the BCC a great start in terms of creating an evidence base, and the Council will be doing all that it can to maintain and increase community involvement in the development of the Master Plan.

“There’s been a lot of investment and development in the Town Centre in recent years, and we’re looking to capitalise on that – both in terms of better integrating the Town Centre, but also making it a place where people want to be, and go out of their way to come to. It’s full of potential, and to achieve its potential we can build on the back of existing wonderful assets, like Lake Ginninderra, and the Arts Centre.”

What stands out in the report for you? If you’re a Belco girl or guy, is there anything in particular you’d love to see in the Master Plan? The BCC would love to hear your ideas – you can get in touch by emailing belcouncil@yahoo.com.au, visiting them on Facebook at @belcouncil or tweet them at @belcouncil.

Meetings are held on the third Tuesday of each month at 7.30pm in the Community Room, Belconnen Library, Chandler Street. The results of the survey will be presented next Tuesday 19 August. Visit the BCC website to find out more.