What the ground in Wright tends to do
Wright is one of the Molonglo Valley suburbs, developed recently on ground that was substantially reshaped to create it. Stepped boundaries and pronounced level changes between adjoining lots are normal here rather than exceptional, and the retaining that resulted is generally young.
Young does not mean settled. Where nearby development has continued after a block was handed over, the surrounding levels, drainage and access may have changed since the original design assumptions were made. Establish what the site looked like when the wall was planned and what has happened around it since.
Fill history is the question that matters most in this valley. Whether ground is cut or fill, and to what depth, changes what a wall is founded on and what it retains. Where records exist they are worth obtaining; where they do not, the uncertainty is itself a finding that a design has to accommodate rather than ignore.
Access, water and boundaries here
Access around John Gorton Drive, Steve Irwin Avenue and Uriarra Road is modern but the lots can be tight and the level changes abrupt. Measure the distance from the crest to buildings, driveways and fences, because on stepped blocks the surcharge from a neighbouring structure or driveway can be closer than it appears from the garden.
Drainage in a newly formed landscape is engineered and interconnected, so a new outlet has to fit into a system rather than simply find lower ground. Photograph every terrace and identify how water currently leaves the property before adding anything, since discharging onto a neighbouring lot is not an option here or anywhere.
Wright's Molonglo Valley setting can combine recent earthworks with pronounced stepped boundaries. Around John Gorton Drive, adjoining development may have changed access or loads since a wall was first planned. Record fill history where known, photograph every terrace and show the distance from the crest to buildings, driveways and fences before design assumptions settle.
Stromlo Forest Park, Mount Stromlo Observatory, Ruth Park locate the wider area, and Coombs, Denman Prospect, Duffy adjoin it. None of that substitutes for measurements taken on your own block.