Page 1696 - Week 06 - Thursday, 20 May 1993
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I am a great supporter of urban infill and urban consolidation, simply because we really have to think about the huge infrastructural costs of greenfields developments. There will be significant savings with the West Belconnen plan simply by utilising existing infrastructure - roads, sewerage, drainage, transport, electricity and water, shops, schools, community centres and so on. I am particularly pleased to see that this development is the best option from a public transport point of view. One of the main obstacles to achieving savings in the ACTION bus service is Canberra's Y plan. The West Belconnen plan will enable ACTION simply to extend from the existing infrastructure of the depot and interchange in the Belconnen Town Centre.
Madam Speaker, obviously there will be some impact on the environment through changes in the amenity of the surrounding area and disturbance to continuing rural activities. There will be increased levels of air pollution. There will be increased volumes of traffic. There will be some loss of land, especially for horse agistment, and I am aware of the many people who expressed concern about that. There are other costs associated with the West Belconnen development and, of course, where this impacts on the quality of people's lives the matter should be approached in a consultative and sensitive manner.
I refer to a statement by the Minister this morning that he was not quite sure whether we are going to have wood stoves in West Belconnen or not. I think there is another time for discussing that. Any development, irrespective of its location, will have its winners and its losers. The effect of the West Belconnen plan on the environment would be similar elsewhere - in fact, probably worse elsewhere. It is often the case that the people who support urban infill for environmental reasons are the same ones who object to it occurring next to them. It is human nature. Planners must therefore proceed down the path that takes all aspects into consideration. I am satisfied that an appropriate public consultation process has occurred with the draft Territory Plan for West Belconnen.
Having expressed my satisfaction with the plan, I would like to urge the Government to take the opportunity to develop the area in a way that will provide quality urban design and take into account the social and recreational needs of the residents. Madam Speaker, I believe that there is much more enlightenment these days in terms of creating urban environments that can meet the demands for a wide variety of housing requirements and yet retain the general ambience of the physical attributes of the area. The Liberal Party supports the draft Territory Plan for West Belconnen in areas B and C.
MS SZUTY (4.20): Madam Speaker, I recognise that the debate on the development of West Belconnen has concluded, as the development was approved in this Assembly last year. However, the debate on the environmental impact statement for West Belconnen has not concluded and I welcome the opportunity to continue the debate today. While addressing specifically the West Belconnen environmental impact statement, I will also comment in more general terms about environmental impact statements per se.
Madam Speaker, I found the final environmental impact statement for West Belconnen a confusing and complex document which, although it purports to be an assessment of the environmental impact of a proposal, reads more like a way of mollifying the anger of those affected by a development that they see as a fait accompli.
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