Page 2701 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 1994
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North Watson Development
MR MOORE: Madam Speaker, these days Mr Stevenson is a bit slower at getting to his feet. He is really going to have to work harder. I am sure that he will never reach the speed of Kieren Perkins. My question is to Mr Wood, the Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning. Would the Minister inform the Assembly of the date of auction for the land at North Watson and tell us how many blocks are to be auctioned in the first round? I point out, Madam Speaker, that I did mention to the Minister that I would be asking a question of this kind today.
MR WOOD: Madam Speaker, I am not sure what Mr Moore means by "auction" in this sense - whether he is talking about the bulk auction of land for private enterprise to develop or the auction of individual blocks. My answer will encompass both. I believe that this is a landmark for the ACT, as the development at North Watson returns us to the state we were in prior to 1988, when land development was done by the Government. We are getting back to that stage.
The budget has allocated $4.118m for infrastructure works; so the Government, and, therefore, the people of Canberra, will benefit from that activity. We will do the infrastructure work. Not long ago, advertisements appeared in local papers, calling for tenders from project managers to help us in that process. We do not intend to set up a large bureaucracy to do this work. There is expertise in project management out there in the private sector, and we will use that expertise. It is well under way now. I do not have for Mr Moore an actual date when it will move on; but it is going ahead at full steam. We want to move it as rapidly as possible. All the processes are finished.
I do not think I need to remind the Assembly of the significant benefits to the ACT. Members will recall the report which, I recollect, said that there is something like $8.7m in savings for us in developing North Watson, compared with developing greenfields sites. There is more than $7m in better cities program money. We are delighted to have that, and we are delighted to have the standards that are being set by the better cities program. We want to be ahead of that. We will acquire a financial asset by doing it in this way. As well as that, as I have said in the Assembly before, I believe that it is a benefit to people in that area. I acknowledge that not every one of them has recognised that. Part of it means that Monash Freeway is not going to run past their backyards. Instead of having Monash Freeway there, nearby residents will get a very wide park strip. The other significant change is that, instead of the potential for tourist-related development, they will get high-quality residential development.
MR MOORE: I ask a supplementary question, Madam Speaker. Minister, I refer to the Canberra land release draft program, which indicated that North Watson would have 600 sites released by October 1994. That is only two months away. Do you perceive that you will be able to reach that goal, when the servicing has not even started yet?
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