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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 2 Hansard (27 February) . . Page.. 328 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

As I have said, a number of schools have already made it their priority. So far I am aware of one other complaint from another school in relation to the problem of heat in demountables in summer. However, all the complaints seem to be coming from Gordon. I appreciate that their P&C want the department to pay for everything. But I make the point again that other schools have made this a priority under school-based management. They have taken steps to alleviate it.

I should also say, Mr Hird, that as a result of enhanced school-based management there was some controversy when figures were released last year or the year before. Those figures showed that over a three-year period the amount of disposable funds that schools had effectively rose by about 165 per cent. That has enabled schools to do more things with their money. It has enabled them to have a greater degree of flexibility. So they have that capacity.

I am a bit concerned, too, that all these problems seem to be coming from the one school rather than system wide. If it were a system-wide problem, that might be another thing. Because they are coming from the one school, there may well be-and this is something that I am investigating-some things peculiar to that school which are not the school's responsibility but ours.

I think it has been important to make the point about school-based management. It has worked well for the territory and I have mentioned by way of example a number of schools that have as a matter of priority put airconditioning into their demountables.

Manuka-car parking

MR QUINLAN: My question is to the minister for planning, although the former minister for planning, Mr Humphries, might choose to answer it. I have been furnished with a document which purports to be a letter from the director of Manuka Plaza. It includes the following:

We now call on the ACT Government to honour its written commitment by immediately imposing car parking restrictions in the vicinity of Manuka including residential streets in accordance with the attached Minute-

which I do not have-

of the meeting between the then Chief Minister, yourself and the writer dated 29 May 1997.

It concludes:

... so that the commercial viability of the section 41 development may proceed in accordance with the representations and agreements made between the ACT Government and the Crown Lessee.

Whichever minister, does your government have a written deal with the developer of the Manuka Plaza to change parking arrangements to force people to use the pay parking in Manuka Plaza?

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