The City Renewal Authority is committed to delivering a world-class waterfront destination and neighbourhood at Acton – a lively, mixed-use precinct that extends the City Centre to the waterfront and celebrates Canberra’s national capital character.

This consultation builds on design engagement undertaken in 2022-23 which has helped us shape the current design approach and draft principles. Community feedback gathered through this round of consultation will further refine those principles and guide the planning pathway needed to bring the Acton Waterfront vision to life.

The public consultation will run for six weeks from 4 November - 17 December, ensuring Acton Waterfront continues to be shaped by and for the people of Canberra.

Important note on images: Any images or concepts shown here of the new Acton Waterfront are indicative only and should not be considered the final design. They are illustrative designs intended to show how the design principles outlined below can be achieved.

The Acton Waterfront neighbourhood is a unique and exciting project for Canberra. This area will become a lively and engaging destination.

Located adjacent to both Parkes Way and Commonwealth Avenue, the overall goal is to build a connected, sustainable, and people-focused precinct that reflects Canberra's lifestyle and values. The project aims to bring everyday life to the waterfront by:

• Transforming the waterfront to link the City Centre to Lake Burley Griffin.
• Creating a walkable, mixed-use neighbourhood that includes homes, shops, cafés, restaurants, cultural spaces, and a generous park and plaza.
• Delivering safe, accessible, and engaging streets and public spaces that support daily life and connection to nature. Building heights are designed to create a lively precinct - lower near parks and open spaces, and taller near transport routes and future light rail stops.
• Creating a place that supports wellbeing, local business, culture, and heritage.

We are seeking feedback on our proposed design principles and how well they achieve the vision for a lively, people-centred neighbourhood.

To enable a more liveable neighbourhood, we want to understand from you what makes a great waterside neighbourhood and how Acton Waterfront can best reflect Canberra’s lifestyle and identity.

The design of this liveable neighbourhood starts with strong design principles that guide how the buildings, streets, and public spaces work together.

These principles focus on:

• Active frontages: Creating welcoming streets and activity areas with shops, cafés, and community spaces along the park promenade.
• A mix of uses: Combining homes, shops, cafés, restaurants, workplaces, and community spaces to create lively and welcoming experiences for residents, workers and visitors.
• Comfortable, safe, and sustainable streets: Designing streets that keep traffic slow and prioritise walking and cycling. Buildings are shaped to minimise overshadowing of the streetscape which use durable, sustainable materials.
• Buildings that enable sunny streets and light-filled indoor spaces: Designing building heights to protect parks, streets and public spaces from overshadowing, ensuring they stay sunny and inviting, while also preserving key lake views and respecting Commonwealth Avenue’s character. Slender buildings, narrow blocks and upper-level setbacks improve sunlight and airflow.

The Acton Waterfront project aims to deliver a high-quality, lively and people-focussed destination. The National Capital Plan (NCP), developed nearly 20 years ago, provides a strong foundation for this vision. We have the opportunity, however, to consider how the planning framework can evolve to support even better design and community outcomes.

To achieve an active community, the ACT Planning strategy suggests areas in close proximity to a local city centre should hit a density of approximately 330 people per hectare. The density currently achievable, however, is around 220 people per hectare. Housing options under the current plan are also less diverse and, some design outcomes under the current rules can lead to challenges like overshadowing and reduced solar access in public areas and apartments. It is also harder to strengthen the connection between the waterfront and the City Centre.

The City Renewal Authority is proposing a way forward that will create a place people will love from day one - a place that is lively, inclusive, and unmistakably Canberra. By making strategic changes, the project can:

• Ensure environmental excellence: The new proposed design goes beyond national standards for solar access and ventilation, ensuring public spaces are receive adequate sunlight and apartments are energy-efficient.
• Unlock density and diversity: The proposal places more homes and offices adjacent to future light rail stops to support a more active and inclusive community with greater housing diversity. This will be delivered through a mix of slender, tall and shorter buildings that allow sunlight down to street-level and create light filled spaces. Building heights are designed to create a lively precinct - lower near parks and open spaces and taller near transport routes and future light rail stops.
• Create stronger connections: It delivers better links between the waterfront and the city, and with major infrastructure like light rail.
• Comfortable, walkable design: Streets and buildings are carefully planned to make the area feel friendly and safe, supporting active lifestyles and promoting a walkable community atmosphere.

To achieve this ambitious vision, an update to the NCP may be needed, unlocking the required density, diversity, and design flexibility to create a neighbourhood that is nationally recognised and globally admired, sustainable and comfortable for all, connecting to with infrastructure like future light rail stops.

The current Acton Waterfront, soon to be transformed into a lively, connected neighbourhood. And an optimised design that enhances the current planning framework to ensure outcomes exceed national design and sustainability standards.

The image on the left shows the current Acton Waterfront, soon the be transformed into a lively, connected neighbourhood linking the City Centre to Lake Burley Griffin. The artist's impression on the right shows the proposed design, where revisions to the planning rules ensure public spaces stay sunny, wind is managed, and views to the lake are protected. This type of design helps us create a more active and sustainable community.

Your feedback is absolutely essential and will help shape the project's next steps. Community input will help refine the final design before an NCP amendment is submitted for consideration, if required. The community will also have a further opportunity to provide design feedback through that process.

We invite you to consider:

• How well do you think the proposed plan achieves the vision of a high-quality, lively, and authentic place for Canberrans?
• How effective is our proposed plan in strengthening the connection between the City Centre and the waterfront?
• What do you think is most important for creating a sustainable and active mixed use waterfront precinct in Canberra?

You can get involved in several ways:

Community Panel

The City Renewal Authority is currently asking for expressions of interest for a community panel to provide comment on the design principles. We are hoping to gather the views of a range of people who might see themselves living in the Acton Waterfront at some time in the future. We want a mix of young and older people, from all over the ACT. We also want to hear from a mix of people living in different dwelling types (houses, apartments, townhouses etc) and from different cultural backgrounds.

The Community Panel will meet for half a day to consider the planned design and how well it achieves the design principles. The session will allow for a more in-depth exploration of what is planned and gather feedback on what is working, what could change and what other opportunities exist.

The Panel meeting will take place in-person, in the ACT (venue TBC) on 2 December, 10am – 2pm

Those selected for the Community Panel will be advised by 24 November 2025.

Express interest in being part of the Community Panel.

Complete the survey

Tell us your thoughts on the proposed design principles for the neighbourhood by completing the survey.

Stakeholder workshops

We will be hosting two stakeholder workshops. The intended participation for the workshops is those who use the Acton Waterfront regularly, may have been involved in previous consultations, or are interested in providing comment on the area’s future.

Both workshops will follow the same format but are being offered at different times and dates, and in-person and online to enable greater participation.