Document ID: chunk:federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00148:reg:2017:p9
Version: federal_register_of_legislation:F2019L00148
Segment Type: reg
Provision Reference: reg 2017 (pt 9/81)
Character Range: 63859–66771

to oversee the development of Canberra, and in August 1957 the National Capital Development Commission Bill was introduced.  Menzies demanded changes to the Bill to strengthen the independence of the proposed National Capital Development Commission (NCDC), to avoid the inter-departmental arguments that had previously slowed or stalled development.  Fairhall was also directly involved in getting British town planner Sir William Holford to advise on Canberra's development, and appointed John Overall, Chief Architect of the Department of Works, as the first Commissioner of the NCDC.[35]  The creation of the NCDC and the commissioning of Holford would have an important influence on the location and construction of the future National Library building.

Griffin's structured geometry and 'City Beautiful' concepts were substantially diminished by the NCDC.  William Holford's view, supported by the NCDC, was that the Griffin plan was outdated given the rapidly expanded use of the motor car and newly developed ideas of how to locate monumental buildings in a less formally structured landscape.  Holford's report recommended the location of Parliament House on the southern lake shore, embracing a large monumental plaza between widely separated wings, and placed the national institutions, including libraries, on Camp Hill behind the Provisional Parliament House site.[36]

In 1959, the NCDC, freed from the constraints of the Griffin plan, and heavily influenced by Holford's vision, issued a new plan for Canberra's central area, which replaced Griffin's plan gazetted in 1925 (based on his 1918 plan) as the direction for the development of the parliamentary and related areas.  The NCDC working plan of 1959 shows a new site for the National Library at the northwestern corner of the Parliamentary triangle, where it would eventually be built.[37]  The mint was at first considered for this location, but others (possibly led by Grenfell Rudduck, Associate Commissioner of the NCDC) suggested the library go there, and Menzies also felt that the library should be close to the Parliament.[38]  The Library was to flank the proposed lakeside Parliament House on its west, while the High Court would reflect it on the eastern side.  Paul Reid, chief architect of the NCDC from 1968 to 1982, points out that this was not unlike the arrangement in Washington.[39]  Harold White grasped this planning initiative, and used it to help his argument for the development of the National Library, with a tunnel connection to Parliament to enable it to service members.  Provision for the tunnel remained a feature of the planning of the building, but was never constructed.[40]  The National Library Act 1960 created the separate National Library, and the decision to proceed with a new building on the planned site followed soon after.

In 1964 Sir William Holford refined his plan for the parliamentary area,