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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 6 Hansard (15 May) . . Page.. 1683 ..

MS DUNDAS (continuing):

I urge members of the Assembly to support my amendments, because I think they go a long way to addressing the concerns that have been raised. If the motion is amended, it will allow us to undertake the review Ms Tucker has called for. We can then look at the impact, good or bad, of the ACT pine plantation industry in a holistic sense.

MR CORBELL (Minister for Education, Youth and Family Services, Minister for Planning and Minister for Industrial Relations) (6.21): It is important to state very clearly to Ms Dundas and others that following the fires at Christmas time the government has given very serious consideration to the issues involved in replanting or otherwise using the burnt area. It is not the case that the issues have not been looked at. They have. The government has done that as part of the normal process of assessing what to do following the fires.

The government is of the firm opinion that most of the Stromlo pine plantation should be replanted with pine this winter. My colleague Mr Wood has outlined the time imperative in ensuring that those plantings occur this winter. The government has also considered the future of the area close to Lake Burley Griffin, and has decided that the area should not be replanted as a commercial pine plantation.

Planning and management for the national capital open space system, NCOSS, and specifically this land by the lake, are under the control of the National Capital Authority, as this land is designated land under the National Capital Plan. The NCA is responsible for determining the planning policies for the area as well as what types of trees are replanted on the land.

Planning and management for the national capital open space system are in the interests of both the national capital and the territory and require cooperation between the Commonwealth and ACT governments. The national capital's requirements are specified through its detailed land use policies in those parts of national capital open space which are designated areas, and through the general policies and special requirements of the National Capital Plan for other national capital open space system areas. The territory provides for its requirements through the Territory Plan.

Management plans, which are usually prepared by territory agencies, are the key to successful implementation of these policies and plans. Consistency of planning and management and the realisation of an open space system which symbolises the character of the national capital and provides a unique landscape for the city must be achieved through consultation and my means of joint studies in those areas where there is both NCA and territory interests.

The government does not support the suggestion put forward by Ms Dundas, and by Ms Tucker in her motion, for a review of the land burnt at Christmas. This area is zoned in the National Capital Plan and the Territory Plan for use as a pine plantation. It is important public open space and it needs to be restored as soon as possible.

It is also important to note that the area on the non-lake side of the Tuggeranong Parkway which was substantially destroyed by the fire also forms part of the backdrop to the central area of the city. Any use other than a landscape use would, I suggest, run into very serious problems with the National Capital Authority, because that area provides a very scenic and important visual backdrop to the central parliamentary area.

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