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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1999 Week 9 Hansard (2 September) . . Page.. 2845 ..

MR HIRD (continuing):

Government, the BRL Hardy winery and tourist complex. For this reason, the Urban Services Committee made a conscious decision on 3 August this year to initiate an inquiry into car parking in the EPIC precincts.

Mr Corbell made reference yesterday in this place to the heavy workload which the Urban Services Committee faces over the next few months. Mr Corbell, on this occasion, was right. But, in spite of the heavy schedule, the committee was able to expedite this inquiry so that some important decisions could be made promptly by this parliament on this extremely important issue. I hope our colleagues in the Assembly will place equal importance on the need to ratify the committee's recommendations as a matter of urgency.

Various recommendations in the report were arrived at after two meetings, one of them on site with the stakeholders - EPIC, the Royal National Capital Agricultural Show Society, Summernats and officers from PALM and the Chief Minister's Department. The report recommends, among other things, that the Government immediately investigate the provision of upgraded car parking facilities at various sites and that it facilitate an overall integrated transport strategy for the entire area covered by EPIC, the BRL Hardy winery and the ACT Racing Club.

Mr Speaker, the urgency of taking these decisions is emphasised by the fact that the Royal National Capital Agricultural Show Society year 2000 show is only five months away. I must stress that members of my committee strongly supports the concept of the BRL Hardy complex and appreciates the importance of the development to the ACT community. But we also share the show society's concerns about some of the ramifications of the development, particularly the loss of up to 2,000 car parking spaces right at the show's front door, EPIC's front door.

This is a comprehensive report covering all the issues canvassed at the inquiry. I thank the other members of the committee - Mr Rugendyke and Mr Corbell - and the overworked secretary, Rod Power, for the time and effort they contributed to ensuring this inquiry was completed without delay. I also thank the various officers of the government departments and agencies and the Minister for Urban Services, Mr Brendan Smyth, for assisting my committee in its deliberations. In closing, I would also like to thank those who gave evidence before the committee on this issue. Mr Speaker, I commend the report to the parliament.

Question resolved in the affirmative.

Motion (by Mr Rugendyke ) put:

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