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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 3 Hansard (25 March) . . Page.. 914 ..

McKellar - Grant of Leases

(Question No. 104)

Ms Tucker

asked the Chief Minister, upon notice:

In relation to the grant of leases under section 161 (l)(d) of the Land (Planning and Environment) Act for McKellar Section 50 Block 16 and McKellar Section 52 Block 6 to Tokich Homes Pty Ltd:

(1) Why were these two blocks sold by direct grant to Tokich Homes Pty Ltd when it was admitted by the former Minister, Gary Humphries in Determination 200 of 1997 that while Ecoland (the trading name of Tokich Homes) had originally approached the Government to build ecologically sustainable housing next to local shopping centres, Ecoland was not proposing to include any innovative environmental initiatives as part of this development at McKellar.

(2) Given that the development proposed for the McKellar site contained no innovation beyond what is currently found in any medium density housing development in Canberra, why were no other developers given the opportunity of bidding for those blocks through an auction or tender process.

(3) When the Ecoland company originally approached Assembly Members in 1997, the company advised that, while one of the directors of the company was a member of the Tokich family, Ecoland was a separate venture to Tokich Homes. Why then was the grant of the land made to Tokich Homes Pty Ltd.

(4) How was the sale price of the two blocks determined.

Ms Carnell

: The answer to the member's question is as follows:

(1) The land was sold by direct grant because Tokich Homes Pty Ltd trading as Ecoland met the criteria for the direct grant of land in accordance with Disallowable Instrument No 200 of 1997. Environmental initiatives were initially proposed, however as the proposed development was of a small nature Ecoland advised that it was not possible to incorporate such features into the project. However, Ecoland agreed to undertake various public works at the local centre to improve the appearance and viability of the centre. These works were included as part of the lease conditions and cost $100,000 for the two blocks.

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