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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (8 August) . . Page.. 2573 ..

However, I notice from the information obtained by Save the Ridge on the department's costings of the eastern option that there is no mention of a fauna overpass on this route. Does this mean that you have decided not to proceed with the fauna overpass north of Caswell Drive, or was the costing of this overpass conveniently left out because it did not fit into the previously calculated cost of $32 million?

MR SMYTH: I am advised that the costings are accurate. The eastern route capital costs are approximately $22 million, assuming intersections, with traffic lights, at the Barton Highway, Ginninderra Drive and Belconnen Way and a flyover at the intersection of Ellenborough Street and Gungahlin Drive. Capital costs are approximately $32 million, assuming that there would be no intersections but flyovers at all the major roads.

The western route capital costs are $24.7 million, if you assume intersections, with traffic lights, at Barton Highway, Ginninderra Drive and Belconnen Way and a flyover at the intersection of Ellenborough Street and Gungahlin Drive. The additional $2.7 million in comparison with the preferred eastern route is due to the need for a flyover at Battye Street. That includes some very large-scale earthworks at Ginninderra Drive. The capital costs for the western route go up by $10 million on top of the $24.7 million if there are flyovers at all intersections.

The eastern route comes out at $32 million, if you assume the flyovers I have listed. The western route comes out at $34.7 million, if you assume the flyovers at all intersections.

Ms Tucker: My question was about the fauna overpass.

MR SMYTH: I believe the overpass is not being built on the revised eastern route, but I will check and confirm that for Ms Tucker.

MS TUCKER: I ask a supplementary question. One of the emails obtained by the Save the Ridge group indicates that the cost estimates for the revised eastern option, after the spur road was dropped, are "top of the head estimates only". How do you expect the Assembly to have any confidence in your costings of the Gungahlin Drive extension if this is the costing methodology applied by your department?

MR SMYTH: An enormous volume of documents was provided to Save the Ridge under FOI. If you want to take individual documents out and quote them, that is fine. But, as we have seen, by quoting only some of the story, you often make mistakes. I believe that the process the department has followed, except for the human error that led to the incorrect measurements, is an appropriate process. That is how we manage our capital works.

Lyneham tennis centre

MR CORBELL: My question is also to the Minister for Urban Services. On 21 June this year the minister, in response to a question on the Lyneham tennis centre development, stated:

We have broken the bottleneck. The creditors have now been looked after.

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