The lake is open for business

It's usually branded the Fun Police, but the National Capital Authority is open to any and all proposals for bringing more people to the lake. 4/8/23

Transcript

00:00 So the lake is one of the most beautiful parts of Canberra and everyone loves it and a question

00:04 about well how can you experience the lake.

00:07 So we're always open to ideas.

00:09 People come to us with an idea for food and beverage or an activity on the lake and we're

00:14 happy to work with them to see how we can implement it.

00:18 People didn't like the lake and didn't enjoy the lake, we wouldn't be doing our job as

00:21 the MCA to make sure that Canberra was a great place for all Australians.

00:25 Because we want people to come to Canberra, have a chance to enjoy the lake, think about

00:30 why Canberra is here, what the Griffins were trying to achieve, see their institutions

00:35 but at the same time we're all human, we all need food, we all need a bit of wine, we all

00:41 like a bit of hospitality and we can have it all and still be that very special Canberra.

00:47 And it's true to say isn't it that the Canberra's original architects, the Griffins, Walter and

00:51 Marion Griffin, they always intended that the lake would be the central feature and

00:55 that we'd be much closer to the lake than we currently are.

00:59 The original plans from Walter and Marion were around vibrancy.

01:03 They thought Canberra could be planned but also be planned to be a vibrant, interesting

01:07 city, one which was a great place to live and in being a great place to live, a great

01:12 place to enjoy the outdoors, to partake in culture and also hospitality.

01:19 So just behind you we've got, you can see Parliament House, I can see the National Library,

01:24 I can see Questacon, the gallery's in there in the trees and so is the portrait gallery

01:28 and the High Court just over here, I'm just panning over here.

01:32 So look, it's fair to say that, or is it fair to say that we've been a little bit protective

01:39 of the lake in terms of keeping it all very pristine.

01:43 We want to keep it pristine but we also want to see people using it more.

01:47 Would you agree with that?

01:48 So the way the buildings sit in the landscape helps maintain the vibrancy of the lake and

01:55 the, if you like, the stature of the lake.

01:57 But having people beside the lake is just perfect, having them enjoying it is perfect

02:02 and in fact what you can see is the top of the National Triangle.

02:06 The National Triangle is both the institutions but deliberately takes in the other side of

02:12 the lake because that's where Walter and Marion particularly always thought it was the people's

02:16 place.

02:17 And it was their idea to call it the National Triangle.

02:19 It was Walter and Marion in their very early plans talked about the National Triangle and

02:25 so we've adopted that again and we're talking about the National Triangle so it's not just

02:29 the institutions which are very important but it's the whole area in central Canberra

02:34 that really is the heart of the nation.

02:36 [silence]

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