Page 486 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 16 February 2005

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minister for housing confirm what process tenants must go through to purchase the public housing property in which they reside? The minister could not answer my question. In my supplementary question I asked the minister whether the Chief Minister’s statement of yesterday, when he said that every public housing tenant is able to own the house in which they live, was correct. My question was not specific to Pierces Creek.

MR HARGREAVES: Let me address the question asked by Mrs Burke in this way. If she thinks I am going to stand up in this chamber and assist her in her clever trapping mechanisms she is wrong.

Mr Smyth: It’s right or it’s wrong.

Mr Stanhope: Mr Speaker, I wish to make a personal explanation.

MR SPEAKER: We usually deal with those at the end of question time.

Mr Stanhope: It is in response to the question that was asked. I will answer the question.

Mrs Burke: I am satisfied with the response, thank you, Mr Speaker.

Environment—heritage trail

MS MacDONALD: My question is to the Minister for Environment, Mr Stanhope. The 2004-05 budget allocated $250,000 for the construction of a Murrumbidgee River natural and heritage trail from Angle Crossing in the south to Uriarra in the north. Minister, can you please advise the Assembly how work on the project is progressing?

MR STANHOPE: Work is progressing well on the proposed heritage trail, which will link a whole range of sites along the Murrumbidgee River corridor. In fact, it will link sites from Angle Crossing through to Uriarra Crossing. It is a major undertaking and, when completed, the trail will consist of a range of self-guided, vehicle-based routes that will take visitors to a range of significant sites along the Angle Crossing-Uriarra Crossing route, all within the Murrumbidgee River corridor.

I have always felt that that was a gap within the provision of recreational opportunities or entrees to the Murrumbidgee River corridor, a very beautiful piece of the ACT. Along that route there are places such as Angle Crossing, Tharwa, Point Hut, Pine Island, the Cotter and Uriarra Crossing, as well as the possibility or opportunity of having a long distance walking track all the way from Point Hut to Casuarina Sands.

There are some tremendous recreational sites along there. They are going to be upgraded. We are going to enhance the visitor facilities, the signage and the amenity landscaping and will, of course, do everything we need to reduce environmental impacts and to improve the quality of visitor experiences. Once visitors do access these sites, we propose to provide a whole range of exploratory walking trails. They will be themed and will be of a very high quality.

It is our intention that the heritage trail will use existing road networks, but there will be some new walking tracks constructed as part of the project, all on territory land. The


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