He said the 60-page Plan was prepared to help advance the Canberra Plan goal for Canberra City to be a dynamic heart of the region, and asks Canberrans to consider key issues including modes of transport, parking facilities, cycle and pedestrian networks, street frontages and public safety.

If offers possible strategies for dealing with a doubling in the number of City residents from 5200 to 10,400 by 2016, along with a 25% increase in workers during the same period.

The draft plan, prepared by the ACT Department of Land and Property Services, also questions what transport links, services and parking spaces the City will need.

Mr Stanhope said: “This draft Action Plan adopts nine specific targets which focus on enhancing Canberra City- from Haig Park to Lake Burley Griffin – as a great place for people to live and thrive”.

He said one of the keys to “building a stronger City heart” was to marry future designs and plans with ongoing population growth anticipated over the next seven years.

“By 2016 some 2km of new and upgraded shared use path is likely to be built to improve cycle and pedestrian access throughout areas east of Northbourne Avenue, and to improve connections between City East and City West.”

“The Action Plan’s targets are integrated, and together they work to maintain the City’s existing high level of accessibility and functionality, help improve  Canberra’s environmental footprint, enhance City’s vitality and urban lifestyle, and optimise utilisation of existing transport and other infrastructure”.

Mr Stanhope said the draft Action Plan was not a fait accompli.

“It will contribute to broader discussions that will lead to clearer priorities and common goals”.

He said the Greater City Area, through natural growth alone over the next seven years, was set to attract around $1.5 billion in private sector investment.

“We will need to meet the demands of that growth”.

“Much of the City’s public infrastructure is almost 40 years old, and paths, lighting and design of the open spaces need to be adapted to increasing changes in the urban character”.

Mr Stanhope also said some areas formerly peripheral to the City were now integral to the city’s urban form and need to link into a unified whole.

“The  Action Plan aims to contribute significantly towards that and, in time will help determine the level of public investment appropriate to the Greater Canberra City over the coming years”

The consultation period for public input into the plan ends Tuesday 16th March 2010.

Copies of the Greater Canberra City Area Coordinated Action Plan 2010-2016 are available at http://www.communityengagement.act.gov.au/

ACT Government spokesperson Simon Kinsmore encourages Canberrans to step out of the office during their lunch break to enjoy the free entertainment.

“Everything will be French next week, including performances by a cabaret singer, a string and jazz quartet playing traditional music, food and wine tasting, and a traditional circus carnival themed event are just some of the free amusements around the city.

“It’s a great opportunity to get out of the office at lunchtime, enjoy the warmer weather and the free live entertainment in the city.

Groovin’ in the City’s free entertainment program will run during lunch from 12:30 – 2:00pm, Monday to Friday, up until 26^th February 2010.

Groovin’ in the City is proudly brought to you by the ACT Government, Canberra CBD Limited, The Canberra Times and Mix 106.3.

Bonjour Canberra Events  Programme.

‘It is a win:win situation,’ said Canberra CBD Limited CEO Linda Staite. ‘You can safely rid yourself of the clutter of old CDs and contribute to the new-look West Row Park.’

A $600,000 revamp of the Park stated last month, funded by city centre property owners via Canberra CBD Limited, with the ACT Government spending another $100,000 on adjacent works.

The park redesign is by GHD Limited, landscape architectural consultants. Landscape architect Jennie Curtis said in developing the design she was keen not only to make the park more sustainable but also to recycle and reuse.

‘The Red and Blue (Inge King) artwork in the Park inspired me. I wanted to emphasise it. It gave me the idea for interlocking and floating rings of crushed recycled CDs and glass to be inlaid in the concrete pavement.

‘Donated CDs will be shredded and crushed for the inlay mix. In this way, a little bit of recent history is embedded into the pavement, the new landscape supports the existing artwork and the artwork provides an exclamation mark in the landscape,’ said Ms Curtis. ‘‘The CDs may initially look grey but they sparkle as different CD pieces reflect the sunlight so the effect is a bit like mica in sand,’ she said.

Linda Staite is urging people to deliver old CDs to Canberra CBD’s office on Akuna Street, directly opposite the Myer entrance.  ‘We need about 200 kgs in weight or 11.5 square metres of CDs, our best guess being this comes to around 35,000.  It’s a great way to clean out old CDs, which have a habit of accumulating, safely and securely, at the same time knowing a little bit of you has gone into this important park.

Canberra CBD Limited in conjunction with the National Gallery of Australia’s Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond exhibition is hosting Bonjour Canberra.

Bonjour Canberra is a French themed week of activities designed to encourage tourists and locals to come into the city. Part of the Groovin in the City program, Bonjour Canberra will run from Monday 15 February until Friday 19 February 2010.

During this week long celebration, lunchtime performances will take place in all the major intersections on City Walk, Garema Place, Petrie Plaza, Ainslie Avenue and near Akuna Street. Activities planned for the week include musical performances by Sylvie Boisel, Telopea Park School and French jazz from the John Milton Trio. There will also be acrobatics, stilt walking, can can dancing and circus tricks.

There are several ways for your business to become a part of Bonjour Canberra.

• Display exhibition posters and postcards
• Receive 2  complimentary tickets for you or your staff to experience the exhibition
• Win 30 complimentary exhibition tickets for you and your staff  if your organisation is judged the best French themed business during the week long celebration of Bonjour Canberra

Overview of exhibition

Masterpieces from Paris: Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne and beyond

The National Gallery of Australia proudly presents one of the most extraordinary exhibitions ever to be held in Australia. See 112 Post Impressionist works from one of the great museums of 19th century art, the Musée d’Orsay in Paris.

Be captivated by van Gogh’s Starry night 1888 and Bedroom at Arles 1889, Gauguin’s Tahitian women 1891, Cézanne’s beloved Mount Saint-Victoire c 1890, and many other celebrated works of art by artists such as Georges Seurat, Pierre Bonnard, Claude Monet, Maurice Denis, Henri Toulouse-Lautrec and Édouard Vuillard.  On show in Canberra only, from 4 December 2009 – 5 April 2010. For more information visit nga.gov.au.

Significant paving upgrades are improving the accessibility and amenity of the popular Glebe Park, Chief Minister and Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Jon Stanhope, said today.

Mr Stanhope said the ACT Government had invested $1.6 million to replace 6250 square metres of paving as part of the $25 million Local Initiatives Package,which was developed by the Government to support jobs and boost industry confidence.

The work has just commenced and will be scheduled in stages to minimise disruption to visitors and events. It will be completed in mid 2010.

“The ACT Government has commenced a program to replace the paving in Glebe Park which has deteriorated significantly over the years due to constant use,” Mr Stanhope said. “Cracked, broken and uneven paving will be replaced to improve the accessibility and amenity of the popular inner-city park.

“The work will help to retain the park’s unique character and ensure it continues to be well-used by the community.”

The new clay paving is a red-brown colour and matches the paving used around the new Glebe Park performance stage.

Mr Stanhope said the work was recommended in the Glebe Park Master Plan Report which was developed following extensive consultation with the community and stakeholders such as the ACT Heritage Unit and the Heritage Council.

Other works undertaken by the Government in Glebe Park the past 12 months include replacing the BBQ plates with energy-efficient models; more seating in the BBQ areas; landscaping; and a new path linking the City gate to the Gillard Smith Gate.

A purpose-built performance stage and a shade structure and seating walls for the playground were also completed last year with funding from the Federal Government.

The playground and BBQ areas will remain open while the work takes place.

Canberra CBD Limited will spend more than $600,000 on the park and the ACT Government another $100,000 on adjacent works.

‘This is our most significant capital investment to date,’ said Canberra CBD Limited CEO, Linda Staite.  ‘The park, at the corner of London Circuit and West Row, has suffered from the drought. We are thrilled to be refurbishing it, and to new levels of visual and practical amenity.’

Acting Chief Minister, Katy Gallagher MLA, said ‘West Row Park is a small but valued green space in the city centre. This investment partnership by the Government and Canberra CBD Limited is a great example of how the Government and property owners can work cooperatively on city centre improvements.’

Mrs Staite said the existing mature trees would be retained, but smaller scrubby bushes and a pittosporum would be replaced with more harder species.

‘There will be bike racks, more seating, improved lighting and paved paths that criss-cross the park in the directions that people currently walk through it, and a small grassed area.’

The existing sculpture Red and Blue (Inge King) will be a centrepiece of the park ‘and visually integrated with its distinctive red and blue picked up in the park paving, walls and seating. The Friday markets will return to the park when work is completed.

Ms Gallagher was speaking after the Assembly supported the Government’s Smoking (Prohibition in Enclosed Public Places) Amendment Bill 2009.

“This Government is committed to promoting good health and wellbeing, and protecting Canberrans from exposure to the harmful effects of tobacco smoke,” Ms Gallagher said.

“In 12 months there will be no smoking in Canberra’s restaurants, cafés and coffee shops. Pubs and clubs, however, will be able to designate an outdoor smoking area of no more than 50 per cent of their outdoor space,” she said.

Mr Stanhope said the service – which offers high occupancy taxis from a dedicated rank in Civic for a fixed fare – no longer represented the best value for taxpayers’ money due to poor patronage.

He said changes to the scheme in April this year designed in consultation with the taxi industry had failed to lift patronage. For the period April to July this year, only 1500 passengers had used the service compared to 3000 passengers during the same period in 2008.

“Patronage for the Nightlink service has decreased considerably since it commenced in February 2008,” Mr Stanhope said. “Hirings for the Government-subsidised service are down 53 per cent and patronage is down 50 per cent. Fares are also down 30 per cent.

“Based on the low demand for Nightlink taxis, the service no longer represents the best value for taxpayers’ money.

“The service will cease this weekend and the funding will be redirected towards more security for the Alinga Street taxi rank over the summer period.”

Mr Stanhope said the two security guards and at least one taxi marshal employed at the Nightlink taxi rank would be moved to Alinga Street on weekends from December to March inclusive each year.

“The security guards and taxi marshal will help to address anti-social behaviour and improve the safety of the Alinga Street taxi rank,” Mr Stanhope said. “They will supplement the existing CCTV cameras in the area that are monitored by the Australian Federal Police.”

Mr Stanhope said the Canberra Taxi Industry Association and the Aerial Taxi Network had been fully briefed on the Government’s decision.

He said the Government would fund ACTION’s Nightrider service on the weekend of 11/12 December and 18/19 December and on New Year’s Eve to provide partygoers with convenient and safe transport home in addition to the standard taxi services.