The following formal submission have been made public
Submitter: Sue ByrneNew Southern Entrance
I am writing to express my concerns regarding the current Works Approval process for the Australian War Memorial. I do feel this is a futile exercise as the approval of the early works in April 2020 was a devious route to the approval of these major works. This extensive redevelopment should have sought approval as a complete project not in a piecemeal manner. Already the Anzac Hall site has been so ravaged that it would be impossible to implement major changes to these new plans. Yet again the National Capital Authority’s (NCA) consultation pathway is a flawed process.
I am particularly perturbed with the proposed design of the new southern entrance.
It is to be hoped that the NCA will truly assess the plans against the National Capital Plan, its principles and guidelines. The NCP states that Matters of national significance in the planning and development of Canberra and the Territory include:
• The pre-eminence of the role of Canberra and the Territory as the centre of National Capital functions, and as the symbol of Australian national life and values.
Judging by the majority of negative public responses to these War Memorial changes in the early works approval report, this destruction and reconstruction does not reflect the values which the War Memorial was intended to represent. The Memorial as a sombre place for quiet reflection and contemplation of lives lost in times of war is now being replaced by a building of theatrical proportions glorifying war and showcasing even larger military hardware and weaponry.
In the statement of planning principles of the National Capital Plan, objective 2 (Urban design and heritage) point 2 states:
Development should be consistent with the requirements of any relevant Heritage (or Conservation) Management Plan for that particular place.
The Commonwealth Heritage List and the National Heritage List emphasised the relationship between the building, the commemorative spaces and the collections. These values will be eroded by the construction of the large entrance hall with columnar doors, stone walls and widened front steps which diminishes the view of the original building from ANZAC Parade.
This construction will change the building from that of a memorial where visitors enter a commemorative and reflective space to view the Pool of Reflection and Hall of Memory to a gallery space more reminiscent of an art gallery or museum. Tourists are now funneled through a covered pathway partly underground into an exhibition space from where the the beautiful Art Deco building will be partly glimpsed through an oculus, as beautiful and innovative as that may be. The significance and solemnity of the building as a whole as portrayed by its architecture will be devalued.
I suggest that the new southern entrance changes the purpose of the War Memorial from a space for sombre contemplation to one of wartime glorification and I ask the National Capital Authority to reject these proposed works.
I am particularly perturbed with the proposed design of the new southern entrance.
It is to be hoped that the NCA will truly assess the plans against the National Capital Plan, its principles and guidelines. The NCP states that Matters of national significance in the planning and development of Canberra and the Territory include:
• The pre-eminence of the role of Canberra and the Territory as the centre of National Capital functions, and as the symbol of Australian national life and values.
Judging by the majority of negative public responses to these War Memorial changes in the early works approval report, this destruction and reconstruction does not reflect the values which the War Memorial was intended to represent. The Memorial as a sombre place for quiet reflection and contemplation of lives lost in times of war is now being replaced by a building of theatrical proportions glorifying war and showcasing even larger military hardware and weaponry.
In the statement of planning principles of the National Capital Plan, objective 2 (Urban design and heritage) point 2 states:
Development should be consistent with the requirements of any relevant Heritage (or Conservation) Management Plan for that particular place.
The Commonwealth Heritage List and the National Heritage List emphasised the relationship between the building, the commemorative spaces and the collections. These values will be eroded by the construction of the large entrance hall with columnar doors, stone walls and widened front steps which diminishes the view of the original building from ANZAC Parade.
This construction will change the building from that of a memorial where visitors enter a commemorative and reflective space to view the Pool of Reflection and Hall of Memory to a gallery space more reminiscent of an art gallery or museum. Tourists are now funneled through a covered pathway partly underground into an exhibition space from where the the beautiful Art Deco building will be partly glimpsed through an oculus, as beautiful and innovative as that may be. The significance and solemnity of the building as a whole as portrayed by its architecture will be devalued.
I suggest that the new southern entrance changes the purpose of the War Memorial from a space for sombre contemplation to one of wartime glorification and I ask the National Capital Authority to reject these proposed works.