Page 1315 - Week 04 - Thursday, 5 May 2022

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The Canberra Liberals believe in housing affordability and housing choice. We believe in giving all Canberrans the opportunity to live in their own home if they wish to and allowing them to dream to own their own home if they wish to. I urge all members to support my motion calling for a feasibility study into the future of the west Tuggeranong region. I commend my motion to the Assembly.

MR GENTLEMAN (Brindabella—Manager of Government Business, Minister for Corrections, Minister for Industrial Relations and Workplace Safety, Minister for Planning and Land Management and Minister for Police and Emergency Services) (4.40): I would like to thank Ms Lee for bringing this motion on behalf of Senator Seselja, and providing an opportunity for me to talk through some of the detail of the various studies in this area and what they have found. While some of the components of part 1 of the motion are acceptable, the majority of the motion is not.

I move:

Omit all text after ‘That this Assembly’ and substitute:

“(1) Notes that:

(a) the ACT Government conducted initial planning studies in West Murrumbidgee in 2015 and found that:

(i) the area is restricted in terms of conservation areas and reserves, threatened species and ecological communities, heritage and topography;

(ii) the environmental constraints and topography both limit the developable area and make infrastructure servicing expensive;

(iii) the Murrumbidgee River is a significant boundary to urban development, both from a landscape and practical perspective; and

(iv) other areas need to be considered to determine if they could be developed more effectively and with less environmental impact;

(b) the ACT Government considered development in West Greenway, between the Tuggeranong Town Centre and the Murrumbidgee River, in 2016 and found that:

(i) community, sporting and environmental groups opposed the development; and

(ii) the area close to the Murrumbidgee River corridor is home to endangered flora and fauna as well as natural and built heritage sites;

(c) the ACT Government has commenced preliminary investigations for potential future greenfield development in the Western Edge; and

(d) the ACT Government ruled out development in West Murrumbidgee in the 2018 Planning Strategy;

(2) further notes that:

(a) Australia, including the ACT, is facing significant increases in house prices;


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