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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 13 Hansard (5 December) . . Page.. 4486 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

in Canberra. It will take 6,000 people. It will be a very welcome addition to the Canberra sporting scene. It will benefit not just the Belconnen Soccer Club and local soccer. It will benefit not only the people of Belconnen. Quite clearly, they will largely benefit from this. It also will benefit the wider Canberra sporting community. It will be a very valuable asset.

Mr Speaker, the legitimate concerns of residents have been taken into account as a result of the exhaustive studies and the consultation process that the Minister has gone through. Those concerns mainly centred around parking. Mr Hird, who on a daily basis in this Assembly has been handing in petitions from people in favour of the proposal, has handed me a letter. It is from people who live opposite the proposed site and they say:

The site in question has been a wasteland for far too long. Already our eldest child has grown up without any local amenity. This is something we will always feel angry about.

They went on to say that the concerned residents group did not represent their views and were people who mainly feared parking problems and excessive noise. They said that the issues of noise and parking were important and should be addressed, but they believed that the project had many benefits that far outweighed those inconveniences. I think the issues of noise and parking have been addressed by the Minister and by the revised proposal by the Belconnen Soccer Club, and addressed very adequately indeed. This letter went on to say what a great facility it would be for the young and for everyone in that immediate area. I am certainly inclined to agree with that, Mr Speaker.

I think there is absolutely no point in delaying this any further. This has been in gestation since before 1985. Probably it goes back to 1983; but certainly, in terms of this particular proposal, it goes back to 1985. How much more discussion do we need? I think all the relevant checks and balances and controls have been put in place. The issues have been looked at, and looked at again in a very detailed way, especially in the most recent process which the Minister has gone through. This quite clearly satisfies the legitimate concerns that any residents might have.

Mr Speaker, I think we need to note that a large number of residents have always been very keen to see this proposal go ahead. I think the legitimate concerns of those who had qualms about it and those who might have opposed it have been addressed. You are never going to satisfy everyone. There will always be a small minority, I think, who will continue to oppose anything even though the real concerns have been addressed, and I believe they have been. I think most people who had some initial concerns about this will have had their fears allayed.

Ms Horodny talked about the old tip ground not being suitable. It is not suitable for too much, but I seem to have read somewhere, or heard from an environment expert, that this proposal to make this into a sportsground will tend to lead to less seepage into Ginninderra Creek and Lake Ginninderra. I would imagine that all those environmental concerns were well and truly looked at by my colleague's department, and I am aware of some positive environmental effects from the building of such a ground.

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