AUSTRALIA'S NEW CAPITAL

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1942, 27 December 1913, Page 2

AUSTRALIA'S NEW CAPITAL

AMENDED DESIGN CRITICISED;

The' amended design of . tho Federal capital city, Canberra, as completed by Mr. Walter Burley Griffin just prior to hfs return to America is different in" several respects from the original first pmo designs, as. nltered-by tho bo-ardsof experts, but the. general scheme of tho priginal has been adhered to. . Tho chief .alterations consist of tho remodelling of the civic section and .tho residential section of the city, while tho Governor-General's residence, instead of being on the side of a stony hill, as originally located, has been provided for in a more suitable locality. The railway route has been altered, and tho underground 'Station on • theeastern limit or the eUy lias been brought ■ into the city proper, but tho now route intersects the city thoroughfares no less than thirty times., which may necessitate further amendments. On Uto whole the new design is held to be a great improvement on the old. Competent authorities—among whom is tho president of tho Institute, of Surveyors, Mr. L. A. Curtis —maintain that the design is faulty, first through tho absence of any sporting arena, such as cricket or football oval, whilo tlie subdivision of the river waters into the five ornamental lakes precludes the possibility of utilising the- lake for boating and yachting. A more trenchant criticism is that levelled at the drainage system, Mr. Curtis maintaining that insufficient attention has been paid' to this feature of city planning,. and the result may he the pollution of the ornamental lakes, which should.form .the chief beauty of the capital.■« ;;■::■*,&. ■..'".