Page 1443 - Week 04 - Thursday, 26 March 2009
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .
the filtration system and the centre’s roof, which leaks like a sieve every time it rains, have been temporary or cosmetic at best. Even as a not for profit business, DSL has had to pay to fix things that were not our responsibility, but we did so in order to keep the pool open and operating for the public.
There is a time line and history behind the demise of the pool, an incredible story that highlights this government’s lack of commercial acumen, management capabilities and community consultation. No care; no responsibility. This is what we are outlining here today.
In 2005, the standing committee on planning and environment made recommendations to the government in relation to the proposed development of the Deakin pool site. One of these recommendations was as follows:
The Committee recommends that the Minister for Planning request that the ACT Planning and Land Authority amend DV205 to enable the office block to be built before the Oasis pool is refurbished, but on condition that the proponent provide a performance bond to guarantee that the pool is upgraded to the satisfaction of the Authority.
This recommendation was, sadly, ignored by the government in 2005, resulting in the development of the site around the pool. The planning minister of the day was Mr Simon Corbell. In one of the most curious examples of one step forward and two steps back, Mr Corbell gave permission for the indoor cricket, indoor soccer and netball facilities to be destroyed to make way for a major office development as requested by the owner-developer, who used the justification that he would be able to carry out the pool refurbishments if his application was granted. But then, most incredibly, Mr Corbell refused to accept the very prudent advice from the committee, a committee that was a bipartisan committee, that had two government members—the chair, Mr Mick Gentleman, and Ms Mary Porter, and our now Liberal opposition leader, Mr Zed Seselja.
The current planning minister, Andrew Barr, even now, with all that has transpired in the last four years, has the temerity to try to justify this unjustifiable decision by the then minister, Simon Corbell. It is another case of closing ranks to protect a major blunder by the Stanhope-Gallagher majority government.
During the public hearings at the time, the owner of the pool, who also happens to be the developer of the site, said that the pool had 18 months or two years left before the conditions of the pool would become unsafe. That was four years ago. A representative of the owner-developer said in his statement to the committee at the time:
A swimming pool costs money to build, and then it costs money to run. The receipts that you get from pool users usually cover the running costs but can’t cover the capital costs. That is a simple formula that seems to apply to swimming pools around Canberra and throughout Australia.
There are ones in Canberra that have got to about the same age as the Oasis Centre, including the one at Deakin and the one at Kippax which they have just closed down because no-one can find the cash or no bank will lend anyone the
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . .