ACT Chapter President’s Message – October 2016

 

The ACT election process is in full swing. Recently we held a very informative ‘Meet the Candidates’ forum at the ACT Chapter in conjunction with PIA and AILA.

Convened by Annabelle Pegrum, the Q+A session allowed the candidates (Mick Gentleman – Labour, Alastair Coe – Liberal, and Shane Rattenbury – Greens) to put forward their agenda in regards to the future of planning and design in our territory. Whilst they all struggled to put forward a recently constructed exemplar project, they did all have encouraging ideas for densification and urban renewal. All candidates also showed a level of commitment to improving building approvals processes and the ethical procurement of design services. With good ‘ideas’ (not necessarily commitments) put forward from each party, I left not knowing where to cast my vote. And then I remembered that I live in NSW. I call on all ACT residents to make the right choice! Many thanks to Annabelle and the Chapter for all your efforts.

In addition to our election forum, the ACT Chapter launched a website with responses to a series of questions that we provided to each party, some useful questions that you could ask your local candidates, and a portal for you to provide feedback. Visit: http://wp.architecture.com.au/actelection2016/

The Contemporary Australian Architects Speaker Series (CAASS) is sadly over for another year. We had four excellent speakers in James Russell, Blainey North, Cumulus, and KIRK that presented everything from an extreme penthouse suite with custom designed fabrics for furniture and flooring to a humble low budget packing shed renovation. Each practice had their own unique processes for designing and ways to negotiate the best outcome. If only there were more of these speaker series throughout the year! Thanks to Dom, Nathan, BCA (Ian), and the NGA (Edie) for making our favourite speaker series excel yet again.

DESIGN CBR is galloping towards us. The ACT Chapter has several bus tours planned for you, and the general public, to take part in. Book your tickets soon as seats are very limited. To see the full list of events planned, visit: http://designcanberrafestival.com.au/program/

Enjoy the spring season. Hopefully there’s no more construction delays due to inclement weather in the next few months!

 

Rob Henry

ACT Chapter President