Page 4911 - Week 12 - Tuesday, 25 October 2011
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them to streamline processes. Of course, the government has a role in providing the many and varied infrastructure items to support community sport, whether that be sportsgrounds and clubrooms, community facilities such as swimming pools or purpose-built facilities such as the Stromlo Forest Park.
The Greens are pleased that the government will be funding the 50-metre pool at Gungahlin, although I am beginning to wonder when we might see the sod turning. I feel it is going to be some time within two or three months of October 2012, but only a cynic might suggest that. It is certainly a very necessary investment in the infrastructure of the region and I think one that is well overdue in the Gungahlin community, which has seen, I think, an improvement in its facilities in recent years, but as a community still has some significant outstanding needs.
I am pleased to see that there will be a feasibility study into a leisure centre in the new area of Molonglo, but we need to make sure that the provision of these facilities is equitable across the ACT so that all communities have access to sport and recreation in their local area. I think the Gungahlin example demonstrates that when we get to Molonglo we need to ensure that these facilities are delivered in a timely manner and that we do not reach a point where the community is boiling with frustration and start to develop life patterns that are quite different. Once you join a club, you often stay with it for the rest of your life and it is so much better to be able to belong to a club in your local area than to travel across to some other town centre.
We also support the feasibility study into the provision of a dedicated facility for trail bikers so they can enjoy their sport in an appropriate setting rather than perhaps in the environmentally sensitive nature parks. I think it is important that we do work here to ensure that we provide the facility, but also that there are concerns about people going off established tracks and having an impact. It is these sorts of stories that point to the need for a recreational plan for the use of Canberra’s reserve areas so that we get the right activities taking place in the right places and we ensure that we have protection of the sensitive areas and the provision of recreational facilities where they are needed.
One other area that I have a particular interest in is our lakes—in particular Lake Burley Griffin but also Lake Tuggeranong and Lake Ginninderra. Of course, in addition to their environmental value they are integral to a growing number of different sports, including rowing, triathlon and, as we are told, the world’s fastest growing sport, dragon boating. This is why the Greens have moved an inquiry into the health of the lake. The repeated closures of the lake are a problem and they are starting to have a detrimental impact on recreational and sporting activities in the ACT.
Of course, infrastructure is not the only thing. It is not just about the sports facilities themselves. It often includes such matters as providing suitable lighting so that female participants feel safe to attend night-time sports or it can be something as important as public transport being available to the grounds so that people do not have to have a car or families do not need two cars to get to sport. I am out of time. There is always work to do on the sporting issue and I look forward to debating this again in the future.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (4.08): I thank Mr Doszpot for bringing this very important matter of public importance to the Assembly. I thank
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