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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2000 Week 11 Hansard (28 November) . . Page.. 3322 ..

MR HIRD (4.35): I present report No 61 of the Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Services, entitled Draft variation (No 140) to the Territory Plan-Existing Produce Market Sites-Greenway section 2 block 5 and Belconnen section 31 block 5, including a dissenting report, together with extracts of the minutes of proceedings, and I move:

Mr Deputy Speaker, I will be brief. Members will find that report No 61 of the committee uses a pretty succinct manner of reporting. Our recommendation is at the head of the report and the rationale for the recommendation is set out underneath. The remainder of the report describes the conduct of the inquiry and contains summaries of the evidence presented to the committee. All members of the committee are unanimous that the draft variation should apply to the Tuggeranong produce markets; but one member, my colleague Mr Corbell, considers that it should not apply to the Belconnen site. Mr Corbell, I am sure, will speak for himself at a later time.

Mr Deputy Speaker, I thank departmental officers and the operators of both the Belconnen markets and the area known as the Tuggeranong produce markets for their invaluable assistance. I thank the tenants of those markets and of adjacent shopping areas who made submissions to my committee. I thank the public in general. Also, I take the opportunity to thank the secretariat for assisting us in our deliberations. I commend the report to the house.

MR CORBELL (4.37): Mr Deputy Speaker, as Mr Hird has mentioned, I do not agree with the recommendation that draft variation No 140 to the Territory Plan, relating to existing produce markets, be agreed to in relation to the Belconnen markets. I think that it is of some regret that all members of the committee agreed to the proposal to endorse this variation in relation to the Tuggeranong produce markets.

Mr Deputy Speaker, the situation at Tuggeranong is regrettable. It is difficult to understand why a fresh food and produce market cannot be available to the people of Tuggeranong when one is already available to the people of Belconnen and to the people of the established areas of the inner north and inner south through the Fyshwick markets. It seems a strange quirk that we can have successful produce markets at Fyshwick and Belconnen, but not at Tuggeranong.

Nevertheless, it would appear that the Tuggeranong markets situation is too far gone and that a sensible proposal is needed to allow the existing owners of the markets to at least lease the site for a range of retail purposes. For that reason, there is a clear and compelling argument for some action in relation to Tuggeranong.

That cannot be said for Belconnen. The Belconnen markets are very successful local produce markets that provide cheaper fresh food and vegetables to people in the Belconnen area. The provision of such a service should be encouraged. PALM, in presenting this draft variation, argued for consistency between the two produce market sites. However, that consistency can only be justified if it is on the ground of the

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