Page 5883 - Week 18 - Wednesday, 11 December 1991
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about preserving the character and nature of Manuka and the access to facilities there are overcome; but I believe, on the basis of what the Minister said, that that is going to be the general objective of the Government.
Mr Collaery said that the central issue in this debate is the provision of more parking space. I completely agree and believe that it is essential that we look at that question. I have to say that I do not understand the mathematics that Mr Collaery uses to say that there will be less car parking space after a second storey is put on the car park opposite Manuka Village. Perhaps I can study the transcript afterwards to see how he reaches that figure, but I do not believe that that is the case. It seems to me that there will be more parking spaces. Anyone who has visited Manuka at a lunchtime during the week or on a Saturday morning knows how desperately important it is that there are additional spaces in that place.
It is pleasing to see that concerns about the presence of nightclubs, discotheques, amusement centres or bowling alleys in that Capitol theatre block are being addressed. They are going to be excluded by the terms of the lease. That is very pleasing. I might say, Mr Speaker, that my understanding is that these concerns were not actually addressed by the Government until this morning. The concerns, at least of the church at Manuka, were not addressed until that time, which is a matter of some concern but - - -
Mr Wood: A bit earlier than that.
MR HUMPHRIES: Well, whenever the decision was made and advised to representatives of the church there, it is pleasing to see that that happened eventually anyway. I am also pleased to see that the standard of the building on the Capitol theatre site is going to be a high one, complementary to both the vista of Canberra Avenue and the cathedral.
I also think that the additional parking space provision to complement the additional seating in the cinema complex will be important. Obviously, the use of the cinema complex occurs, as a general rule, at different times from the use of the other shops and amenities in the area of Manuka. People do not usually go to the cinema on Saturday mornings or, to the same extent anyway, during the weekdays, and therefore the capacity being installed for the cinema will not necessarily cut across the capacity that will be used at other times for shopping.
There is, of course, a very real concern about the use by the cathedral and by other services associated with the cathedral, such as the Catholic Education Office, of parking spaces around Manuka. Clearly, it is important to preserve the capacity of parishioners to use the parking spaces that are presently there and which, frankly, at the present time, are not used frequently by parishioners but are taken already by people using the shops at Manuka.
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