Previous February Find of the Month


February 2023

The Tuggeranong Inauguration Plaques

Canberra's Third Town turns 5

This February marks the 50th anniversary of the inauguration of urban development of the Tuggeranong District. Local historian Michael Hall has researched the ceremony held to launch the new development with the help of records held by ArchivesACT. He has written the following article and kindly allowed us to use it for our February Find of the Month.

Artist's impression of view from Oxley Hill, 19731

On a wet summer’s afternoon in early 1973, on top of a small hill in the middle of sheep and wheat paddocks, a group of officials watched as two newly appointed ministers in the Whitlam government unveiled a plaque to inaugurate Tuggeranong.

A year before that the National Capital Development Commission (NCDC) decided that an inauguration ceremony should be held in Tuggeranong to mark the commencement of work in Canberra’s third new town. A ceremony had been held in June 1966 when the Minister for the Interior, Doug Anthony, unveiled a plaque in Aranda to commemorate the start of work in Belconnen. Something similar was envisaged for Tuggeranong where the NCDC wanted a site with some elevation so that a lookout and possibly an exhibition area could be developed. They adopted a Goldilocks approach in considering three sites.

One site was near Kambah homestead which, while it was close to the first stages of development in Tuggeranong, was considered to be too flat. A second site near Stranger trig (in Bonython) had possibilities for a lookout but was thought to be too distant from the first suburbs in the valley and had problems with accessibility. The third site, near the Tuggeranong trig station, had “a good lookout facility set in a path”, was closer than Stranger to the initial construction of houses at Kambah, which could be seen from the hill, and had access close by from Pine Island Road. It was just right.

The Tuggeranong trig station is on a small hill just east of the town centre and is marked on maps dating from at least the early 20th century. The NCDC used the name ‘Tuggeranong Trig’ as the working title of the area where they envisaged a Swinger Hill style medium to high density development. It never came to fruition. To avoid confusion with Tuggeranong Hill, at the rear of Theodore and Calwell, the hill is unofficially known as Oxley Hill because it is in the middle of the suburb of the same name.

Tuggeranong Town Centre and Oxley Hill in background. Circa 1908's2

The timing of the inauguration ceremony was affected not only by the actual commencement of work at Tuggeranong, but also by a Federal election due before the end of 1972. As it turned out work didn’t commence until early 1973 when detailed planning for the ceremony also began. It was hoped that the new Prime Minister, Gough Whitlam, would perform the inauguration however he was unavailable and so two junior ministers, the Minister for Urban and Regional Development Tom Uren (who had responsibility for the NCDC) and the Minister for the Capital Territory Kep Enderby (who was also the local Federal member), were given the task. The date was set for the afternoon of Wednesday, 21 February 1973.

A plaque measuring 25¼ inches (64.135cm) by 7½ inches (19.05cm) and costing $170 was ordered from an engraver in Melbourne and a Queanbeyan stone mason was paid $235 to set the plaque into a cut and squared section of granite rock. This, it was believed, would make the plaque “souvenir hunter proof”. If only it were so.

Detail plan of the inauguration plaque3

At 1.30pm on 21 February a bus loaded with about 30 officials departed from the NCDC headquarters in Braddon for a tour of Tuggeranong and another bus followed at 3pm. Unfortunately, Mother Nature did not shine on the day’s events and rain fell constantly as the guests trudged along a muddy path to the lookout for the ceremony. Fortunately they were able to gather under a small green and orange tent (it was the 1970s) as the speeches were given. NCDC Commissioner Bill Andrews was the first to address the gathering.

Andrews was glowing in his view of the future for Tuggeranong.  “Tuggeranong represents a plan and preparation for action” he said, emphasising action “because a plan is no good if it is not put into effect. Faith without work is of little avail”. With a population of more than 170,000 Tuggeranong could be “truly regarded as a prototype for significant centres of new urban growth in Australia.”

In his speech Tom Uren noted that when detailed planning of Tuggeranong began in 1969 the NCDC convened a seminar with sociologists, youth workers and social workers to discuss the human problems in cities and how they might be avoided. Involving the public in the process of planning was important and in Uren’s view, was “the cutting edge of the future of planning”.  Environmental considerations had also become part of the planning process in Tuggeranong, including protecting waterways and trees. Before planning had begun the NCDC plotted every tree in Tuggeranong and rated them according to its site and condition. “At each stage in the development of Tuggeranong”, Uren said, “we will want to test the effects of our actions on other things”.

The two ministers, attempting in vain to remain dry under their umbrellas, then removed a purple velvet cloth (again, it was the 1970s) to reveal the inauguration plaque. Its text was simple and straight to the point.

This tablet marks the inauguration of

Development of the new town of Tuggeranong

By the Minister for Urban and Regional Development

The Honourable Tom Uren M.P. and

The Minister for the Capital Territory

The Honourable Kep Enderby M.P.

On the 21st February 1973

They were followed by Lou Engledow, Secretary of the Department of Capital Territory, Jim Leedman, deputy chair of the ACT Advisory Council and Aldo Ferrari, representing the Department of Works, each of whom planted a red spotted gum tree (mannifera maculosa).

The weather was not the only thing that was wet. Five dozen beers, two bottles of scotch and a bottle each of gin and brandy were ordered from the NCDC Social Club. It was just as well a bus was provided.

The fate of the plaque was less joyous. In the late 1980s someone tried to blow up the rock, buckling the plaque in the process and causing its removal. There were calls for a replacement plaque to be installed to mark the 20th anniversary of the first plaque’s unveiling, and one was installed, without fanfare (or media reports it seems), during Heritage Week on 28 April 1993.

This second plaque’s fate was the same as its predecessor. Despite being concreted into place it was soon stolen.

Text on the 20-year anniversary plaque4

Despite the growth of trees around Oxley Hill this forgotten and somewhat neglected corner of Tuggeranong still provides great views of the valley from the Urambi hills to the town centre. And it even has a carpark!

A recent view from the plaque site5

Images

1 – ArchivesACT, NC-72/00324 – Tuggeranong Official Opening.

2 – ArchivesACT, ACT3, 964

3 – ArchivesACT, NC-72/00324 – Tuggeranong Official Opening.

4 – Photo courtesy of Michael Hall.

5 – Photo courtesy of Michael Hall.

References

i ArchivesACT, NC-72/00324 – Tuggeranong Official Opening.

ii National Capital Development Commission Sixteenth Annual Report 1972-73 (between pages 40-41)

iii The Canberra Times – Tuggeranong is opened, despite rain, 22 February 1973, p.1

iv The Canberra Times – Thar’s confusion in them thar hills, 30 September 1992, p.14

v Canberra Chronicle – Late birthday present arrives, 19 April 1993

Ready to start your own research?

Contact us through our Request a Record service and we will be happy to help.

File Readers/Viewers

If you do not already have compatible software on your computer, free file readers/viewers can be downloaded from the following links.