Page 5192 - Week 17 - Thursday, 13 December 1990
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Bearing in mind that the parliamentary joint committee stated that "before any development of north west Belconnen proceeds, the ACT Government would need to consider the effect on adjacent areas of New South Wales and discuss planning and development control", and later that "at the very least a vigorous environment and social impact assessment should be prepared before any decision is made to expand West Belconnen toward the border", can the Chief Minister tell us how quickly is "quickly", and will it be quick enough to allow a vigorous environment and social impact assessment?
MR KAINE: I do not know how long it will take to complete some of the things that the Government has undertaken to do in connection with that development, Mr Speaker; but it is certainly our intention to move as quickly as possible because I believe that further development of those areas of Belconnen is a viable alternative to proceeding too quickly with Gungahlin. It will cost us less in infrastructural costs. It will allow us to continue to use community facilities that exist, including some schools which could come under threat in the next few years if there are not more students to occupy them. It will extend the life of those facilities and allow us to use them better. Our intention is to move as quickly as we can to get all of the necessary approvals from the Commonwealth, to do the necessary environmental studies and to get suburbs into place around those vacant areas of Belconnen as quickly as possible.
I would expect that by the middle of next year we would be well advanced on getting the necessary agreement from the Commonwealth, from the National Capital Planning Authority, for the things we need to do. There are already negotiations in place to secure the transfer of land in that area that remains occupied by the Commonwealth. There is no reason why an environmental impact study could not be conducted simultaneously. I think we are talking very much in the short term rather than the longer term.
MR MOORE: I have a supplementary question, Mr Speaker. Is Mr Collaery correct when he says that you are not going to Moscow in spite of the fact that you speak Russian?
MR SPEAKER: Order!
Office of City Management Shopfront
MR STEFANIAK: Perhaps Mr Moore would like the Chief Minister to answer his question in Russian as well and give a Russian translation. My question, however, is to the Minister for Finance and Urban Services. Can the Minister provide the Assembly with details of the new Office of City Management Shopfront in Civic and, in particular, where it is located and when it will open?
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