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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1997 Week 4 Hansard (7 May) . . Page.. 1084 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

While noise problems are still to be resolved, we have heard that particular sections of the motor sport community in the ACT have been lobbying the Government, particularly the Sport Minister, Mr Stefaniak, to allow the expansion of the Fairbairn Park complex. A proposal has been developed to allow the Fairbairn Park Control Council to have a 20-year lease over block 306, thus giving the motor sport activity a permanent home. In addition, we have heard that the Motor Sports Council wants to take over the adjoining block - that is, block 515, right on the corner of Sutton Road and Pialligo Avenue - to build a whole new speedway.

Mr Humphries: We have denied that, Lucy; you will not listen to us.

MS HORODNY: You can deny it in your speech; that is all right. This speedway is intended to be a replacement for the Fraser Park speedway on the other side of Hume in New South Wales which, ironically, has only 18 months of its lease to run, and it is unlikely to be renewed because of the closeness of this track to the Jerrabomberra estate residential area. This is a real worry to the Ridgeway residents, because the sprint cars that run at Fraser Park are louder than the types of vehicles currently raced at Fairbairn Park and they race regularly at night. It seems the amenity of the Jerrabomberra residents is more important than that of the Ridgeway residents.

We have also heard that the rubble from Acton Peninsula is not going onto block 306, the existing Fairbairn Park complex, but onto this new lot, block 515. The Fairbairn Park Control Council, in fact, has already made arrangements with a different contractor to build noise mounds around its tracks on block 306. Yesterday Mrs Carnell said, in response to my question without notice, that there would be no new speedway built at Fairbairn Park. This is very odd, because there are many people in the motor racing community who have spoken to Mr Stefaniak on this matter and are expecting this new speedway to be approved. I call on the Chief Minister to again say that there will not be a racetrack built on block 515 and I call on Mr Stefaniak to also say the same thing. If the building rubble is not going on block 515, perhaps the Chief Minister could tell us exactly where these noise mounds are going to be built and how high these noise mounds will be.

A consultant's report by Renzo Tonin and Associates that examined the noise impacts of Fairbairn Park found that noise mounds, even if they were as high as 16 metres or at least the height of a five-storey building, would still do little to reduce the noise experienced at the Ridgeway to acceptable levels, because of the elevation of the Ridgeway relative to the tracks and because the prevailing winds blow from Fairbairn across to the Ridgeway. Noise barriers work effectively only where they block the line of sight between the noise source and the receiver, and this would be difficult to achieve in this case.

Mr Stefaniak: It is a big complex. Have you ever been there? There are about eight tracks.

MS HORODNY: Yes, I have, actually. Mounds this high would be prone to soil erosion and collapse and would need to be quite wide and covered with more soil to stabilise the sides. The visual impact of these mounds would be absolutely enormous.

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