page_title: Lake Burley Griffin
section_title: Political disputes and modifications
hierarchical_section_title: Lake Burley Griffin / Design history / Political disputes and modifications
caption_attribution_description: Robert Menzies
context_page_description: Lake Burley Griffin is an artificial lake in the centre of Canberra, the capital of Australia. It was completed in 1963 after the Molonglo River—which ran between the city centre and Parliamentary Triangle—was dammed. It is named after Walter Burley Griffin, the American architect who won the competition to design the city of Canberra.
  Griffin designed the lake with many geometric motifs, so that the axes of his design lined up with natural geographical landmarks in the area. However, government authorities changed his original plans and no substantial work was completed before he left Australia in 1920. Griffin's proposal was further delayed by the Great Depression and World War II, and it was not until the 1950s that planning resumed. After political disputes and consideration of other proposed variations, excavation work began in 1960 with the energetic backing of Prime Minister Robert Menzies. After the completion of the bridges and dams, the dams were locked in September 1963. However, because of a drought, the lake's target water level was not reached until April 1964. The lake was formally inaugurated on 17 October 1964.
context_section_description: With the onset of the Great Depression, followed by World War II, development of the new capital was slow, and in the decade after the end of the war, Canberra was criticised for resembling a village, and its disorganised collection of buildings was deemed ugly. Canberra was often derisively described as "several suburbs in search of a city".
  During this time, the Molonglo River flowed through the flood basin, with only a small fraction of the water envisaged in Griffin's plan. The centre of his capital city consisted of mostly farmland, with small settlements—mostly wooden, temporary and ad hoc—on either side. There was little evidence that Canberra was planned, and the lake and Parliamentary Triangle at the heart of Griffin's plan was but a paddock. Royal Canberra Golf Course, and Acton Racecourse and a sports ground were located on the pastoral land that was to become the West Lake, and people had to disperse the livestock before playing sport. A rubbish dump stood on the northern banks of the location of central basin, and no earth had been moved since Griffin's departure three decades earlier.
  In 1950, the East Lake—the largest component—was eliminated upon the advice of the National Capital Planning and Development Committee (NCPDC). Today, what would have been the East Lake corresponds to the suburb of Fyshwick. The rationale given was that around 1,700 acres (690 ha) of farmland would be submerged and that the Molonglo would have insufficient water to keep the lake filled.
  In 1953, the NCPDC excised the West Lake from its plans and replaced it with a winding stream, which was 110 metres (360 ft) wide and covered around a fifth of the original area. As the NCPDC had only advisory powers, this change was attributed to the influence of senior officials in the Department of the Interior who felt that Griffin's plan was too grandiose. Advocates of watered-down scheme thought it was more economical and saved 350 hectares (860 acres) of land for development. However, according to engineering reports that were ignored, the smaller plan would actually cost more money and require a more complicated structure of dams that would in any case be less able to prevent flooding.
  Initially, there was little opposition during the consultation period before the alterations were made. However, opposition to the reduction of the water area grew. The process that resulted in the alteration was criticised for being non-transparent and sneaky. Some organisations complained that they were not given an opportunity to express their opinion before the change was gazetted, and many politicians and the chief town planner were not informed. Critics bitterly insinuated that politically influential members of the Royal Canberra Golf Club, whose course was situated on the location of the proposed West Lake, were responsible for the change in policy.
  The Parliamentary Public Works Committee advised the Parliament to restore the West Lake. After an inquiry in late 1954, it concluded that:
  The West Lake is desirable and practicable. It was eliminated from the Canberra plan by the Department of the Interior without adequate investigation by the National Capital Planning and Development Committee and replaced by a ribbon of water scheme involving a capitalised cost or nearly 3 million more. The lake should be restored to the plan, and the necessary Ministerial action is recommended as soon as possible.
  The Prime Minister, Robert Menzies, regarded the state of the national capital as an embarrassment. Over time his attitude changed from one of contempt to that of championing its development. He fired two ministers charged with the development of the city, feeling that their performance lacked intensity.
  In 1958, the newly created National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), which had been created and given more power by Menzies following a 1955 Senate inquiry, restored the West Lake to its plans, and it was formally gazetted in October 1959. The NCDC also blocked a plan by the Department of Works to build a bridge across the lake along the land axis 
caption: Prime Minister Robert Menzies championed the development of Lake Burley Griffin.
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