Page 1652 - Week 06 - Thursday, 7 June 2007
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the Assembly at such a late hour, but today in a conversation between Mr George Tomlins of my department, who is the action officer in relation to Narrabundah caravan park, and Mr Phil Wales of the NCA, who is the manager directing governance, Mr Phil Wales agreed explicitly on a form of words that represented the NCA’s position in relation to the Narrabundah caravan park.
The form of words that were agreed between Mr Wales, coming from Mr Wales to Mr George Tomlins, and subsequently confirmed by Mr Phil Wales as an accurate reflection of the statement he had just made to Mr George Tomlins, are these:
I am pleased to inform you that the NCA has agreed to consider to issue an amendment to the National Capital Plan to permit a mobile home park. This will enable the Territory Plan to be varied to contain an overlay on the new site identical to that on the existing caravan park site. The matter is being taken to the NCA Board on 20 June 2007. ACTPLA is writing to the NCA to trigger this latest action.
These words were cleared by Mr George Tomlins with Mr Phil Wales at the NCA today. They followed on a number of telephone conversations and exchanges of view between the NCA and the Chief Minister’s Department over the course of yesterday and today in relation to this matter.
Today’s Canberra Times reported the caravan park deal has hit an NCA barrier, and indicates that I have blamed the NCA for obstructing the deal. The NCA’s Managing Director of Planning, a Mr Todd Rohl, is quoted in the Canberra Times today as indicating that the ACT government would have to approach the NCA for an amendment to the national capital plan for permanent accommodation, but Mr Rohl is quoted in today’s Canberra Times as saying that no such approach has ever been made.
The Chief Executive of the NCA then contacted the department to actually confirm and put that as the NCA’s position. However, despite Mr Rohl’s claims and the claims that I believe were subsequently made by Ms Pegrum in the media this evening, such an approach has been made. In fact, ACTPLA on 28 November last year actually wrote to Mr Todd Rohl himself. In that letter of November last year a senior officer in the planning and land section of ACTPLA said to the NCA:
The ACT government has agreed to the proposed land swap with the current lessees of the Narrabundah Long Stay Caravan Park. The ACT Planning and Land Authority is intending to release this Draft Variation for public comment as soon as possible to enable the land swap to implemented.
The subject of the letter was “Draft Variation to the Territory Plan No 285 Part Block 13 Section 102 Symonston, land swap for Narrabundah Long Stay Caravan Park”. On 28 November ACTPLA wrote to the NCA seeking their comments on a draft variation to the territory plan to facilitate the land swap. Meetings were subsequently held in which Mr Todd Rohl advised Mr George Tomlins that that was not the preferred or necessary approach to complete the land swap. Those are the facts of the matter.
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