Big picture thinking by Armidale Regional Council took another step forward on Friday afternoon when NSW Chief Planner Gary White delivered the new, tailored Armidale Activation Plan to Mayor Simon Murray.
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Cr Murray thought the plan was a very exciting development for the city.
“I think it was in March-April this year that consultants came up to Armidale and met with members of the community and Councillors, and they’ve developed this activation plan with six directions,” he said.
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“It’s really trying to identify various elements within the city to try to unify and develop; to get the economy and the businesses going by getting people to come into the CBD.
“This plan will form a good basis for us to work forward on our City Master Plan. If we can activate a number of things that are in there, it would be a good step.”
The Six Strategies
- Strengthen the Green Spine: Dumaresq Creek forms Armidale’s ‘Green Spine’ and will serve as a prime open space area for its adjoining neighbourhoods , provide an efficient , elegant, and enjoyable active transport corridor for pedestrians and cyclists, connecting residential areas and university campus back to the city’s civic heart.
- Dissolve Distance Between Civic Anchors: Strengthen the connection of civic anchors, such as UNE, Armidale hospital, schools, airport, train station, library and NERAM back to the city centre.
- Sympathetic Density and Hidden Diversity: Actively support housing density and diversity and expansion to housing typologies which respond to their context, both climatically and historically.
- Create an Exploratory and Exciting City Centre: Leverage Armidale’s network of rich architectural buildings, historical places, laneways, arcades to create a destination wo wonder and excitement.
- Celebrate Sustainability: Champion sustainable initiatives and programs that support a carbon neutral Armidale by 2050.
- Integrate New and Old: Encourage iconic new development that exhibits design excellence and incentivise the preservation and adaptive re-use of heritage buildings that underpin the City’s story.
A living room
Mr White said the plan created a “Living Room” for Armidale.
“It’s a place we want to be attractive; a place where we want people to come down to. We want them to have coffee with their friends and we want them to meet,” he said.
It’s all about looking at some of the opportunities presented.
- Gary White
“But there are certain things we have to do if we want it to be that living room, and this plan is all about activating parts of the CBD so it can take on that role, within the context of servicing Armidale as a regional city and the region itself.
“Perhaps upgrading some of the laneways, because they’re great opportunities. It’s a way of connecting different parts of the existing CBD to other parts so it’s easier to move around.”
Mr White said there was a keyword being used in planning at the moment and that was connectivity.
“This plan will do a lot of that. It will make it much more pleasant to walk around and to meet and to greet people,” he said.
