Page 532 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 15 February 2017
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As Mr Wall said, you would not pass by too many people without knowing somebody who has spent some time at the mpowerdome, whether that was through sport or some other recreational activity, and they would have many good memories of their time at that place. I acknowledge that. But I am still trying to get my head around exactly what it is that Mr Wall and Mr Milligan would like the government to do on this issue. In the motion they call on the government to work with the owners and managers to ensure that the facility remains a valuable contributor to the health and wellbeing of Canberrans. That is exactly what we have been doing for many years, and I am happy to provide an overview of our interactions and work with this commercial business.
There is a long history of government working with this organisation. Unfortunately, if we are to provide extraordinary financial support to a private business such as this one, surely we would be required to do the same for every other private business that is having operational issues. Mpowerdome is a privately owned and managed facility under a commercial lease. It is very important to make this point up front in this discussion because those opposite do not seem to get the difference between providing financial support to a community not-for-profit venture and to a privately owned organisation. The government must be very careful that it does not set a precedent as to how it provides support, or how much support it provides, to a private enterprise. We all know that the community does care where their tax dollars go, and it is certainly not to private deals with private businesses.
From the advice that I have been provided with, over the years the ACT government has been responsive to mpowerdome and has provided consistent advice about its options for the site, which is adjacent to Fadden Pines. This advice has included information about the uses permitted under the current lease, uses that would require a lease variation and uses that would require a variation to the Territory Plan, including appropriate community engagement and consultation. Significant guidance and support have also been provided to mpowerdome over the years, including the funding that Mr Wall referred to, to support the development of a parking plan so that the organisation can formalise the use of the adjacent unleased land for overflow car parking.
Site remediation is necessary to ensure public safety, given the degradation which has been a result of parking on that piece of land. An offer of a long-term licence for the overflow area has been made to the business, including a flexible rental arrangement to facilitate the development of a car park to offset the costs of the work.
I am advised that, to date, no formal action has been taken to progress the option of the licence, and, in turn, no site remediation has been undertaken. As I said, this is even following a funding contribution of $11,000 to proceed with the study to identify the next steps.
Earlier, when I was first appointed as Minister for Sport and Recreation, I was never contacted by mpowerdome. In August last year, when I was surprised to receive a handful of representations with regard to the closure of the facility, I decided to make a phone call and have a chat with Gail myself. That call confirmed to me that it was not a problem that the government could resolve. We can help, though, and we have
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