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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 6 Hansard (23 May) . . Page.. 1676 ..

MRS CARNELL (continuing):

a number of ways. There was a newspaper article in the Northside Chronicle on 20 May 1996, there were interviews on ABC radio on 10 May 1996, information was provided to residents of the area via letters and phone calls from ACT Housing, and there was a public meeting.

The local area planning advisory committee had a meeting that ADD Inc. attended. My understanding is that that meeting happened on 21 April 1996. Approximately 50 residents attended the meeting, where ADD Inc. provided information in response to residents' concerns. ADD Inc., ACT Health and Community Care and ACT Housing will conduct another information forum for residents in the area of the site that has now been determined as the preferable site. Information will be sent out to the people in the area via letter and via the Ainslie Residents Association in the next fortnight. Residents in the immediate vicinity will be invited, through a doorknock, to attend that public forum. Other residents, as I said, will be notified by the Ainslie Residents Association. The site will not be occupied until all residents have been consulted and every reasonable step has been taken to address the residents' concerns, but I think it is very important to understand that this is a facility that has been operating in Canberra for quite a while and it is a facility about which we have had no complaints.

MS FOLLETT: I ask a supplementary question. I find that a fairly disappointing response from the Minister, especially given that I gave her some notice of my question.

Mr Humphries: She gave you lots of information.

MS FOLLETT: In fact, she answered none of the three areas that I asked about. By way of a supplementary question, I ask the Minister: Will you confirm that if the detoxification facility is built in Ainslie the building will be in a style and on a scale consistent with the surrounding residences; that the facility will house no more than six to seven clients at a time, all of whom have agreed to abide by the very strict rules of the ADD Inc. service; and that the facility will be staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week?

MRS CARNELL: Mr Speaker, may I start by saying that I addressed all three parts of the initial question. The first part was: What procedures and level of community consultation were applied? I went through that at length. The next part was: How do you intend to deal with the emotive opposition? I also went through that at length. The third part was: Will you give an undertaking that there will be no occupation of the site until consultation has taken place? I said yes.

However, I turn to the supplementary question. The building would be built in a style that is sympathetic with the period of architecture in the surrounding area of Ainslie. The facade would represent the streetscape and be consistent with guidelines applied by the ACT Planning Authority. The size of the building would be to the scale of the surrounding area of Ainslie. In other words, the building that will go there will be very much in keeping with the whole area. ACT Housing will retain as much of the natural and existing landscape features as is possible, but it might be necessary to increase the extent of landscape screening of the site.

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