Page 4990 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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That is why we are going to continue to listen to communities. Whether they be in Calwell, Lanyon, Gungahlin, Belconnen, Weston Creek, Woden or anywhere else, we will listen to those local communities. And what they are telling us is that they want a government that focuses on their core local services. Here it is; here is another opportunity to get the core local services right, in this case for the people of Calwell and south-east Tuggeranong.
Mr Smyth understands that. That is why he has brought this motion forward. He has been listening to the community, the Canberra Liberals have been listening to the community in south-east Tuggeranong and this is what is needed. That is why this motion should be supported and that is why the amendments should not be supported.
MR CORBELL (Molonglo—Attorney-General, Minister for the Environment and Sustainable Development, Minister for Territory and Municipal Services and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (11.27): I rise to address both Mr Barr’s amendments and Ms Bresnan’s amendment but I will deal with the overall substantive motion as well.
The proposal to delay the delivery of land which is urgently needed for aged care in the Tuggeranong Valley is not a request that the government can agree to. It is absolutely imperative that more aged-care facilities are provided in the Tuggeranong Valley. The population in the Tuggeranong Valley is ageing and there is significant demand from residents in the Tuggeranong Valley to be able to continue to reside in the Tuggeranong Valley in suitable accommodation that meets their current needs. So the government cannot agree to a delay or any sort of hindrance that will see older residents of the Tuggeranong Valley not able to access the aged-care facilities that they need and that they deserve.
It is worth highlighting in the context of the master planning discussion—Mr Barr outlined this as from the period he was planning minister, and I am now that I am the responsible minister—that the government is focused on ensuring that we have a coherent set of criteria applied to those areas that warrant the need for detailed master planning. There is a limited capacity to undertake master plans in every location at the one time. There are priority areas already outlined for master planning in the city. Mr Barr, when he was minister, outlined the highest priority areas for the first year of a four-year program of master planning. The government has made an appropriation to fund this program and we have indicated our first priorities and indicated that other centres will be considered in the context of the overall planning strategy for the city.
The priority areas already underway or due to commence are Oaks Estate, Cooleman Court, the Athllon Drive corridor and Belconnen town centre and these are in addition to studies already underway or recently completed, including Kingston and Dickson, which have recently been completed; Tuggeranong town centre, which is underway; the Erindale group centre, which is underway; Kambah, which is underway; Hawker; and Pialligo. So you can see there are already three very important centres in the Tuggeranong Valley that are getting the attention of the government’s master planning program and obviously there is a range of centres around the city where there is a need and desirability for those master planning exercises to take place.
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