{"id":31964,"date":"2025-03-20T07:52:15","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T07:52:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/?p=31964"},"modified":"2025-03-20T07:52:15","modified_gmt":"2025-03-20T07:52:15","slug":"greens-launch-legislation-to-defend-ainslie-volcanics-from-unnecessary-development","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/2025\/03\/20\/greens-launch-legislation-to-defend-ainslie-volcanics-from-unnecessary-development\/","title":{"rendered":"Greens launch legislation to defend Ainslie Volcanics from unnecessary development"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Today Leader of the ACT Greens, Shane Rattenbury will introduce legislation to the ACT Legislative Assembly which will revoke a development approval for the environmentally important  \u2018Ainslie Volcanics\u2019 off Limestone Avenue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

“As a community, Canberrans take pride in our commitment to caring for the environment. Today, the Greens are calling on Members of the Legislative Assembly to reflect that commitment, and reflect the significant community opposition to construction of a large telecommunications tower at Ainslie Volcanics,\u201d said Leader of the ACT Greens Shane Rattenbury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAinslie Volcanics is an area of critically endangered grasslands that grassroots community volunteers have invested hundreds, if not thousands of hours into restoring. Building a tower here threatens to undermine the hard work and dedication of these community volunteers\u2013the Greens won\u2019t stand for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis site is home to some of the last remaining natural temperate grasslands in Australia, and it\u2019s our responsibility to do everything we can to restore and protect them. While it\u2019s true Ainslie Volcanics has faced significant decline, our focus should be on repairing and restoring it, not abandoning it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2024, as a condition to forming a government, the Greens secured a written and public commitment from the Labor Party to specifically protect this site. The legislation we are proposing today provides a mechanism for the Labor Party to help us deliver on this commitment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur legislation follows the same approach, unanimously supported by the ACT Legislative Assembly in 2021, to stop polluting incinerators from being built in Fyshwick. At the time, there was significant community opposition to the proposal to build an incinerator, with concerns surrounding the pollution and potential impact on air quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cFollowing a considerable community campaign, everyone in the ACT Legislative Assembly agreed change was needed, and specific legislation was brought forward to completely stop incinerators from being built in Fyshwick.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, in the case of Ainslie Volcanics, members of the ACT Legislative Assembly face a similar choice. While current planning laws technically allow this tower to be built, this doesn\u2019t reflect what the Canberra community wants. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the Assembly\u2019s job to step in and fix things when they\u2019re not in the best interest of the people. This is the moment for all members of this place to take action and listen to the community to secure a better outcome.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis doesn\u2019t have to be a complicated decision. The government\u2019s own planning documents show that this tower could have been placed just a few hundred meters up the road, avoiding this entire issue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe community, along with the Greens, aren\u2019t against the idea of a new cell tower. There are practical alternatives available\u2014what we need now is the political will to make them a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Quotes attributable to Marianne Albury-Colless, Friends of Ainslie Volcanics Grasslands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe last thing we should be doing is destroying critically endangered Natural Temperate Grasslands and disfiguring areas where people enjoy walking.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOf course these towers are necessary but community concerns need to be heard about the positioning of them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cLegislation has to change so that the community has a voice in where these towers are located.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Amy Blain, Friends of Ainslie Volcanics Grasslands:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe’re so lucky to have these precious pocket grasslands in the heart of the Bush Capital, it\u2019s places like this that are absolutely vital ecosystems. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf our governments are serious about protecting nature and ending extinctions, they have to actively do that. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe have to tip the balance back to the environment and not keep degrading and destroying grasslands, developing ever closer to areas we need to restore. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe are delighted to see The Greens legislating to protect this special place.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“If we want to protect nature we cannot keep selling it out for telecoms. The cost to the Grasslands is too high.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today Leader of the ACT Greens, Shane Rattenbury will introduce legislation to the ACT Legislative Assembly which will revoke a development approval for the environmentally important  \u2018Ainslie Volcanics\u2019 off Limestone Avenue. “As a community, Canberrans take pride in our commitment to caring for the environment. Today, the Greens are calling on Members of the Legislative … Continue reading “Greens launch legislation to defend Ainslie Volcanics from unnecessary development”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-31964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-aussie"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31964"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31965,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31964\/revisions\/31965"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.16news.com.au\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}