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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 10 Hansard (25 September) . . Page.. 3793 ..


off all but two sprinklers. These were not repaired until the following afternoon when the school irrigation maintenance contractor was able to attend. In the circumstances no disciplinary action is required against any departmental staff.


ACT Government staff will continue to be provided with up to date information on all water matters, and will regularly review processes and procedures for reporting and actioning water wastage occurrences.

(10) Vandalism to the irrigation control box and the control valves caused the irrigation system to malfunction. I am satisfied that the school and their contractors repaired the damage as soon as practicable and I do not propose to take the matter further.

(11) As there was no contravention of the water restrictions scheme, neither ACTEW, nor ActewAGL have powers to impose penalties or fines against Canberra College. Ovals and sports fields are not limited to the hours and days on which they can operate sprinkler systems but are required to show a reduction in water use. Under stage 2 water restrictions, water use reduction of 25 percent is a targeted average across the ACT Government and all agencies across the ACT are expected to be actively working to achieve this target.


On the whole Canberra College has an effective maintenance regime in place for its irrigation system and is aware of the requirement to reduce water consumption in line with current water restrictions.

(12) The incident was the result of vandalism on a weekend and a lapse in inter-agency coordination arrangements for incidents of this nature. In this instance, school management reacted responsibly when it became aware of the problem. As mentioned in response to question 9, action has been taken to ensure that the after hours agency contacted gives priority to fixing the problem.

(13) Since the introduction of voluntary water restrictions and the subsequent introduction of stage 1 and 2 mandatory water restrictions, ACTEW has spent $435,525 on a communications program to raise awareness and educate the community about water management and usage. The program was a key strategy outlined in ACTEW's 2003 Statement of Corporate Intent and the Government's 2003-2004 Budget.

Skate parks

(Question No 884)

Mr Cornwell asked the Minister for Urban Services, upon notice:

In relation to skate parks:

(1) How many skate parks are there in Canberra for youth to utilise and what are their locations;

(2) Are there any plans in the current Budget framework to establish more skate parks in Canberra, if so, where and when, if not, why not;

(3) How much did it cost to establish the skate parks in (a) Gungahlin and (b) Tuggeranong;


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