Harrison is named after Peter Harrison, who was an architect and town planner. His first job was in a factory at Woolloomooloo polishing pick handles apparently. However, by 1942, he had gained a degree in architecture and developed an interest in the work of Walter Burley Griffin. As a result, he advocated for the implementation of Griffin's plan for Canberra and was appointed as the first chief planner of the National Capital Development Commission.
To be honest, I thought the person who named Harrison's streets might have been on LSD, but apparently the names reflect "natural features, waterfalls, plains, tablelands and plateaux".
This suburb certainly wins the award for the best street names so far. It was very cool to walk down Adventure St, Albatross St gave me Coleridge flashbacks, Steep St, Thunder Crescent and there were so many more....they certainly take their street names seriously in Harrison...
But moving on...having started this project with a number of Gungahlin prejudices, I was once again very impressed by the work that has obviously gone in to planning this suburb including community spaces and attempts to integrate the area's history into the community despite everything being so 'new'. This includes the historical buildings at Gungaderra and the old Wells Station track (with the Well Station homestead itself unfortunately locked away on a private property in the middle of the suburb that I believe has recently been sold...
Sculptures that reflect the sheep grazing history of this area (even if some of the sheep do look 'melted')...
with a farm dog not far off to keep the sheep under control...
There are also fabulous parks for kids that help them learn their numbers and ABCs....
And a community garden...
They certainly do respect town planning here - with even a poem in one of the parks dedicated to the profession!
On the other hand, I do think architects have let this suburb down a bit - although if you love 90 degree angles this is certainly the place for you :)
I did like the splashes of colour everywhere though...
And regardless I still had a fabulous time wandering around here, particularly as Harrison made it clear that spring is definitely on its way in Canberra :)
So yeah I think I could love spring in Harrison :)
Harrison is a lovely suburb!
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