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Critical environmental management decisions must be based on well understood symbolic, cultural and heritage values.
Existing landscape and built elements should be reconstructed as a priority and strategically managed in order to retain their value.
Development and management must involve
commitment to the principles of Ecologically Sustainable Development.
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Environment and ManagementThe National Capital Plan calls for progressive improvements to the quality of the landscape. This need still exists with some areas in a fragmented state and poor condition. Conserving, managing and developing the environment of the Parliamentary Zone are not without challenges and costs. For example, the oldest tree plantings in Parkes Place are visually the most dominant and give the Zone its strongest spatial structure. The current Conservation Management Plan for this area nominates these trees for urgent replacement. Removal and replacement of the trees will introduce considerable change in the visual structure of the Parliamentary Zone. Some important existing elements in the landscape such as the Old Parliament House Gardens and the Reflection Pool fountains, have deteriorated badly over time and require refurbishment or reconstruction. Contemporary sustainable environmental issues are now influencing management practices in the Parliamentary Zone. The costs of energy and irrigation are focusing attention on ‘green’ energy sources, the rationalisation of water consumption and the selection of appropriate drought-tolerant plant species. In the place of the people, more attention will be given to building materials that have a low level of embodied energy, do not require high-level maintenance and are not derived from endangered habitats. |
