Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .

Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2200 ..

MR WOOD (continuing):

a quite substantial one on the planning processes. Mr Moore's committee has been much involved in that. There are further planning approvals, of course, to come, but they will be more related now to approvals for particular buildings and how the buildings will fit in. But it is all laid out there. The tender document, not to mention the other documentation from the Planning Authority, has all that detail.

If there are concerns about leasing, all the Government policies and all the legislation remain the overriding factor. The authority is, in a sense, an agent to carry out work, but the Minister, this Assembly and the legislation remain the controlling interest. Maybe that could have been refined; maybe it could have been done slightly differently. I have gone through this quite meticulously in the last eight days, and I do not have any better answer than the one I see here. On those grounds, we will support the Bill. We have amendments to the way that the authority itself is constituted. The Greens have amendments, and I would be supporting all but one of those. I think the authority will give the community in Gungahlin and the ACT community broadly the opportunity to continue the intense interest that they have had in this very important project and I expect, as a result of all this process, that in 10 to 15 years' time, because that may be the timeframe before it is complete, and in the time leading up to that, we are going to have a town centre that is markedly different in all ways from the ones that we have in other parts of Canberra. That is not necessarily denigrating them; they were state-of-the-art planning, perhaps, for commercial development at that time.

Ms Follett: I think they are terrific.

MR WOOD: Well, I shop in them, too; but I do not shop in them at busy times, I have to say.

Mr Osborne: Not after 7 o'clock at night now.

MR WOOD: Well, I will not be able to shop in them at busy times, will I? But I think we want something different.

Ms Follett: You never shop.

MR WOOD: Well, Ms Follett, I do shop from time to time. I enjoy shopping. Let me give you an example. I think I said to the planners once, "I want a combination of some good department stores, Glebe Point Road, Newtown and maybe Potts Point".

Mr Osborne: You do not want Newtown, Bill; I can tell you.

MR WOOD: Well, I rather like Newtown, Mr Osborne. But I want something that gives me a different experience from the one I have in the four existing town centres. If I have been a little critical of them, I do acknowledge that I use them and am happy to walk through them. School holiday times, busy times, I tend to stay away. But I think this community deserves something quite a deal different. We do not need to keep repeating the same formula all the time. I think, for that reason, with the way that this is done, we will get what that community in Canberra asked for over that long series of discussions.

Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .