Who are the people behind Canberra’s most sustainable community? This week we meet Matthew Frawley, Ginninderry’s Urban Design and Landscape Manager.

Matt’s role focuses on bringing certain aspects of Ginninderry’s vision and masterplan to life to meet the current and future needs of residents. He’s responsible for delivering the open space networks and street tree program Ginninderry is so well regarded for, along with implementing placemaking and interpretation initiatives. He also works with the Ginninderry Conservation Trust to deliver all the capital improvement work in the Conservation Corridor.

Tell us a bit about yourself.

A Landscape Architect by profession, I moved to Canberra 13 years ago to work in the local development industry. Whilst in Canberra, I have been fortunate enough to work on projects that place a high value on the quality of urban and open spaces. My career has seen me work as a landscape contractor, a maintenance contractor and a landscape architect. As a Landscape Architect, I have been lucky enough to work on a range of urban, commercial and landscape-focused projects nationally and in Southeast Asia, where I lived for four years. My escape from work is being outdoors – either in the bush or on sporting fields – or taxing my children around.

What does your role bring to the Ginninderry project?

My role is about planning for Ginninderry’s future and ensuring that our vision meets today’s needs and what might occur in the future with respect to urban development. I am also passionate about establishing a well-connected network of open space and recreation opportunities across Ginninderry that provide residents and visitors with the opportunity to have a variety of different experiences. My hope is that this leads to balanced lifestyles with a focus on enjoyable, healthy and active pursuits.

A fun fact?

I am from a family of seven children – 6 boys and 1 girl who is the youngest – my parents kept rolling the dice until they got a girl! I lived and worked in Indonesia for four years, which was amazing. I also represented Australia in dragon boating over four years and was part of a mixed team that won Australia’s first medal (bronze) at a world championship in China.