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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 4 Hansard (18 April) . . Page.. 1089 ..

MR WOOD: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Chief Minister and it concerns proposals over a period for retail expansion. That is the question. It is about retail expansion, right?

MR SPEAKER: Yes. Proceed carefully.

MR WOOD: I refer to your statement, Chief Minister, in this Assembly on 29 November 1994 - not so long ago, and I have seen no change to your views - in support of your call for a moratorium on expansion of the Tuggeranong Hyperdome. In your statement you said:

The issue is that the proposed expansion of the Hyperdome will finally kill off local centres and make some group centres non-viable.

You further commented on the same day:

... we already have too much retail space in this city.

I also remind you of Mr De Domenico's comment on that day in relation to the same issue. He said:

If it is red tape to protect small businesses in the Tuggeranong Valley, live on red tape.

My question to the Chief Minister is this: Why do you not have a balanced and considered approach to development proposals - I say that these are proposals; the word I am using is "proposals" - since you adopted one attitude to the Tuggeranong proposal, but an obviously different attitude in Woden, when your Government received a similar development proposal from the Woden Plaza, by going out there and launching it?

MRS CARNELL: I am interested that this question is addressed to me, Mr Speaker, but I am happy to answer it. Mr Wood, as usual, is extremely badly informed on what was launched at Woden Plaza the other day.

Mr De Domenico: He was not there. That is why.

MRS CARNELL: Mr Whitecross was there, of course. What was launched was a community consultation approach. I thought that community consultation was an appropriate approach, not only on extra retail space but on the whole redevelopment of the Woden area. I think one of the things that we would all agree on is that the 1972 Woden Plaza has had very little done to it since Farmers Market was opened in 1977. It is looking shabby. The external areas are looking - - -

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