Staffordshire Terrace residents have welcomed a report recommending their homes be excluded from the National Capital Authority's Hume Circle precinct, but say their lives are still "up in the air".
The Hume Circle was moved under the NCA's planning jurisdiction through an amendment to the National Capital Plan earlier this year, despite backlash from both residents and business owners.
On Thursday, October 1, a parliamentary joint committee investigating the NCA's takeover of the area recommended the terraces be removed from the authority's precinct.
If the building was to remain within the precinct, the joint committee recommended that the NCA give residents a guarantee that they will be "no worse off" under the NCA's planning requirements than they would have been under the ACT's.
While residents have hailed the first recommendation as a win, the alternative has been less than popular.
Dallas Clifford, a pensioner who has been unable to commit to needed accessibility upgrades in his home because of the uncertainty surrounding the Hume Circle, said the alternative recommendation did not describe what "no worse off" meant, and had no mechanism for enforcing it.
"[The recommendation] is where it's up in the air," he said.
"It doesn't really specify anything in particular, so I'm not happy with that."
He said he did not believe the NCA would do the right thing by residents if the building remained under its jurisdiction.
"After what has gone on with the NCA, I do not trust them. They had lost their trust right from the word go," Mr Clifford said.
"They could have gotten the results they wanted if they had done it right, but they blew it."
During the inquiry hearing in August, residents and business owners expressed concern that the consultation process - which had taken place over four weeks in summer - was not a genuine attempt to gauge community sentiment.
In her evidence to the inquiry, the NCA's chief executive, Karen Doran, conceded the authority's outreach to the community could be improved.
The joint committee's report further recommended the NCA strengthen its processes for contacting residents directly, give "sufficient opportunities" for them to respond to proposals, and improve transparency around its processes.
It further recommended that a steering committee be established between the NCA and the ACT government as a matter of priority, with clear mechanisms for the community to give their feedback. A community representative on the steering committee should be given "serious consideration", the report recommended.
Ms Doran repeatedly refused to commit to a community representative during her evidence.
The report also recommended the NCA provide an assurance that Canberra's "centres of hierarchy", which determine the number and type of amenities provided to the area, will be retained, and that a requirement for social and affordable housing be included in future planning.
Federal member for Canberra and chair of the joint committee Alicia Payne said the recommendations provided a "practical pathway" for improving the community's trust in the NCA, as well as ensuring residents continue to have a voice in the process as it progresses.
"The proposal has generated considerable public interest and prompted important discussions about the future of Canberra, the National Capital Plan, and the need to find the right balance between accommodating growth and renewal and preserving the characteristics that make the national capital unique," Ms Payne said.
"While there is broad recognition of the potential for renewal and additional housing, the community must be provided with sufficient information about the consultation processes, involved early and openly in major planning decisions, and have confidence in how decisions are made."
ACT senator David Pocock, who also sat on the committee, said Canberrans cared about housing affordability, but that the NCA had lost trust early in the process.
"To do density well we need to treat the people who live here as partners in getting it right, not as objections to be managed," Senator Pocock said.
"Hume Circle has great potential but it's already one of the most accident-prone intersections in the ACT so it's no wonder residents want to see traffic studies and plans to improve safety."
