Page 1082 - Week 04 - Thursday, 22 April 2021
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
over a decade. You said the current owner is required to undertake a contamination assessment within two years of their development application approval, which was granted in 2020. What this really means is that the site could be languishing like this for many more years before any construction will commence. Meanwhile, as I have been hearing in my shopping centre and doorknocking visits, residents of Hawker walk and drive past this eyesore every day wondering when something will be done. Minister, what will you do to see the rapid transformation of this site for Hawker locals?
MS BERRY: I thank Mr Cain for the question, and I am aware of the site that he refers to. However, it is a privately owned site. If it meets the requirements that it needs to as far as testing is concerned and the site does not pose a health and safety risk to the community, then it is up to the owner of the site as to what they do with it next. However, what I can do, if possible, is to work out a way that officials could contact the owner of that site and see if there are any plans they have for that site that can be identified to provide to Mr Cain and to other members of the community. At this point in time, I am not aware of any plans that the owner has for that site, but they do need to meet their obligations and ensure that the site is kept safe so the community is not put at risk.
MR CAIN: Nonetheless, Minister, why is this government neglecting renewal of this site in Belconnen—and no doubt many others in Canberra suburbs, particularly in Ginninderra—but instead focusing on investment in the inner city region of Canberra?
MS BERRY: That is simply not true. The ACT government has invested in Belconnen in sports infrastructure over a number of years but, in particular, more recently the refurbishment of the Higgins sports ground with a new pavilion and two new sports fields as well as work on the irrigation system at Hawker to ensure that that field remains useable and does not flood. That sporting field is like a lot of the sports fields in the ACT—they are in areas of the ACT that were often flood plains and so managing the irrigation in those areas is important, but that investment has been made at Hawker. Further investments were committed to by the ACT government during the last election to upgrade lighting at the Hawker softball field.
Again, I remind Mr Cain that the particular site he refers to at Hawker is not an ACT government-owned or managed site; it is privately owned. However, I have just been informed that there is a development application that has been put in by the owner of that site.
MR MILLIGAN: How many other sites are there across the ACT that have been left to deteriorate like this one?
MS BERRY: As I said, this is a privately owned site, not a site managed or owned or maintained by the ACT government.
Sport—Gungahlin community facilities
MR MILLIGAN: My question is to the Minister for Sport and Recreation. Minister, Otium Planning Group was commissioned to deliver an ACT indoor sports facility
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video