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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 5 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1509 ..

MR HUMPHRIES (continuing):

airconditioners. The solution lies in keeping the noise from these everyday legitimate activities within reasonable bounds by balancing the right of residents to quiet enjoyment of their homes with the rights of their neighbours to go about their daily lives as they choose. The same approach should be taken to motor sport.

I turn now to deal specifically with noise from motor sports at Fairbairn Park. The Government shares the concerns of the Commissioner for the Environment about the need to put all aspects of motor sport, including leasing and management arrangements, on a properly developed and long-term policy basis. We have set processes in train to do this. In fact, we have gone further by proposing new noise management arrangements for Fairbairn Park in the broader context of a completely new environmental noise regime and, indeed, a completely new environmental protection framework.

While we agree with the commissioner about the need for proper long-term arrangements at Fairbairn Park, I regret that the Government cannot agree with the thrust of his central recommendation that noise limits be reduced gradually to standard noise limits over five years. We cannot agree with the commissioner because the effect of such a proposal would be to prohibit several types of motor sport at Fairbairn Park, leaving little other than minibikes and go-karts to operate on a long-term basis. We do not believe that this would represent an appropriate balance between the right of nearby residents to quiet enjoyment and the right of motor sport enthusiasts to participate in a perfectly legitimate sporting and recreational pursuit.

The Government, under the guidance of my colleague the Minister for Sport, has looked at alternative sites for motor sport. The difficulty is that the cost of developing an alternative site would be prohibitively expensive in the current climate. Perhaps this is an option that can be explored in more buoyant economic times. For the moment, we have to accept that Fairbairn Park is the only cost-effective site for motor sport in the ACT at this time.

I return to my theme of striking an appropriate balance between environmental, economic and social considerations. The Government believes that an appropriate balance lies in adopting the noise limit for Fairbairn Park that we took to the electorate at the last election. That limit was 10 decibels above background noise at the nearest affected residence, which compares with the general standard under the current law of five decibels above background. The Government is conscious that a noise limit of 10 decibels above the average background noise may not be acceptable to the residents of the Ridgeway estate. It is equally conscious that 10 decibels above background will restrict motor racing at Fairbairn Park and that to set a lower limit would restrict motor sport effectively to go-karts and minibikes. This would have been an unacceptable result for motor sport groups and for the ACT economy. We have had to balance competing environmental, economic and social considerations and take a very difficult decision. Mr Temporary Deputy Speaker, I commend that decision and the Government's response to the Commissioner for the Environment's report to the house.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

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