Canberra

Canberra is the second-best city in the world for quality of life, according to the latest report by the Oxford Economics Global Cities.

The quality of life measure encapsulates the wellbeing and satisfaction of a city’s residents. The indicators used to rank each city include life expectancy, income per person, income equality, housing expenditure, recreation and cultural sites, and internet speed.

Canberra was ranked behind just Grenoble in France and was the only Australian city ranked in the top 10 for quality of life

Canberra's pill testing service CanTEST has found N-pyrrolidino protonitazene (NPP) in brown granular powder presented for testing.

It's the first time the synthetic opioid — thought to be 25 times stronger than fentanyl — has been detected in the ACT.

CanTEST has issued a red alert community notice warning NPP carries a high risk of fatal overdose and there is no safe level of use.

I've noticed the spate of stolen bike posts on the local Facebook groups, interesting to see an article talking about it.

Various reserves (mostly out around the Cotter) and parts of Namadgi will be closed for periods in May/June - something to be aware of if you're planning to head out.

ANZAC Day may not actually make a long weekend this year but apparently the powers that be have considered it's close enough to make for a double demerit period in ACT and NSW - and it's starting Wednesday instead of Thursday. Keep your eyes peeled if you're out and about over the next few days.

For the first time in five years, northern corroboree frogs have been spotted in Namadgi National Park by ACT government ecologists.

The species is listed as critically endangered and the government has been attempting to restore their population in the park for more than a decade.

A frustrated ACT Government has written to the Federal Government calling on it to release the 700-hectare CSIRO Ginninderra site to the Territory so it can be developed for much-needed housing.

The Green Shed posted this on their Facebook page today:

To all our lovely, customers and the Canberra Community, today we received this letter below informing us that we were unsuccessful in our latest tender Application. I have just had to inform 84 staff that they will be unemployed come the 30th of May so as you can imagine we are all just a little devastated!

We will be continuing to support schools and other community groups on our donations list until we close but unfortunately we will be stopping our charity day fundraising as of today. Today we are presenting the ACT scouts with a check for 10k, this will bring the total to just over 2 million donated to charity by The Green Shed.

We are still trying to digest what has happened but feel both us and the hundreds of staff who have worked with TGS over the years can all hold their heads high as we believe we have all showed the world how it can be done.

Procurement ACT MR CHARLES BIGG-WITHER OWNER THE GREEN SHED 40 MASSON ST, TURNER ACT 2612 CHARLIEGREENSHED GS3538978 – THE PROVISION OF REUSABLE FACILITY SERVICES IN THE TERRITORY

Dear Charles, Thank you for submitting a response for the subject Tender. The ACT Government (Territory) regrets to advise that on this occasion your organisation has not been selected as the preferred Respondent.

The preferred Tenderer, The St Vincent de Paul Society Canberra/Goulburn Ltd, was assessed by the Evaluation Team as providing the Territory with a response that met all the specified criteria to the greatest degree as well as best overall value for money.

A public text version of the agreement will be published on the Territory’s Contracts Register.

If your organisation requires a debrief, please reply via email within 5 business days of receipt of this letter in order to arrange a suitable time.

Yours sincerely, DIRECTOR PROCUREMENT ACT 13/03/2024 Approach to Market GS3538978​​PROCUREMENT ACT

The ACT government is moving to have the Molonglo Valley reclassified as Canberra's sixth town centre in a bid to allow greater development and growth in the commercial precinct.

The region in Canberra's west was originally planned to house around 55,000 residents, but the population is now expected to grow to 70,000 people by 2050.

The government will put its case to the National Capital Authority to officially change the National Capital Plan and designate the Molonglo Valley a town centre.

Bonded asbestos-contaminated mulch has been confirmed to be present in the ACT, having been distributed to customers by 12 businesses.

Anyone who purchased 'cottage mulch' products between March 1, 2023 and February 19, 2024 is urged not to distribute or move it, and to contact WorkSafe.

WorkSafe says further testing of mulch from ACT suppliers is underway to establish the extent of the contamination, and if any further action is required.

After a year of watching and waiting, Canberra’s mobile phone detection cameras are about to strike.

Drivers snapped with a phone on their lap or in their hands by the overhead-mounted cameras will be issued an infringement and demerit points from Tuesday next week (20 February).

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal has rejected an application by Empire Global Developments to increase a tenant's rent by 20 per cent on a one-bedroom Canberra apartment.

It said the increase should be allowed because interest on borrowing costs, ACT government rates, and power costs had all increased – but those reasons were rejected because the costs were all tied to the entire apartment complex.

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal ordered a more moderate eight per cent rental increase for the property.

The book fair is on again this weekend if you (like me) hadn't been keeping track of time.

For anyone who hasn't been it's worthwhile checking out if you like having something to read - they always have a huge amount of books to look through and don't charge much for them.

There are two large closures coming up in Kosciuszko to allow for shooting to occur (animal control). If anyone's planning on a trip down there in the next few months this might affect you.

The first big one is the area south of Alpine Way, all the way down to the edge of the park at the Victorian border. This is planned to be closed for basically all of March (4th-28th). This map shows the area in question.

The second and even larger closure is the majority of the area north of the Snowy Mountains Hwy, and this is planned to be closed for literally half the year - 4th April to 4th of October. If you want to do the run through Long Plain and Broken Cart trail (makes nice day trip from Canberra) better think about doing it soon or you'll be waiting a while. This map shows the area for this closure.

Indonesian airline Batik Air has announced it will fly from Canberra to Bali three times a week from June.

It is only the second airline to announce international flights out of Canberra since they ceased during the COVID-19 pandemic.

ACT Policing is seeking assistance from the public to identify a cyclist involved in a collision at Casey Market Town on Saturday, 20 January 2024.

About 8pm, a young child was struck by a cyclist who was riding on the footpath outside the Casey Jones pub.