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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2001 Week 8 Hansard (9 August) . . Page.. 2690 ..

MR SMYTH: Mr Speaker, variation No 138 to the Territory Plan concerns the proposed Gungahlin Drive extension. The Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Services tabled its report on this variation today. In that report-No 77, dated August 2001-the committee endorsed the variation on a 2:1 majority.

To enable the government to respond quickly to the committee's report, I asked Planning and Land Management to consider responses to a number of possible outcomes from the committee, given that this variation has been the subject of substantial public consultation and discussion over the last five years. In this regard, I would like to give the Assembly a potted history of the process.

In November 1997, following an extensive public information and consultation program and the release of the preliminary assessment for public comment in October 1997, the then Minister for the Environment, Land and Planning endorsed the recommendations of the PA and the associated valuation report. The recommended option was for a John Dedman Parkway corridor to the east of the Australian Institute of Sport, linking to Barry Drive in the south-east and to Caswell Drive in the west.

On 10 March 1999, I announced that a draft variation to the Territory Plan to reserve the preferred route would be prepared for release for public comment. Subsequently, on 21 April 1999, the Assembly passed a motion requiring the Standing Committee on Planning and Urban Services to inquire into the Gungahlin Drive extension. The committee called for public submissions in May 1999 and held public hearings from March to May 2000.

On 6 November 2000, the Chief Minister announced the government's preferred option for the future Gungahlin Drive extension excluded the link from east of the Australian Institute of Sport to Barry Drive. The committee's report tabled on 8 March 2001 focused on reviewing the need for and the identification of a preferred corridor for the future Gungahlin Drive extension from the Barton Highway to Belconnen Way at Caswell Drive. The majority of members of the committee supported an alignment for a Gungahlin Drive extension to the east and south of the Australian Institute of Sport.

Mr Speaker, draft variation to the Territory Plan No 138 was released for public comment on 17 May 2001, with the closing date for comments being 2 July 2001. In accordance with section 19 of the land act, notices were placed in the ACT government Gazette on 17 May 2001 and in the Canberra Times on 19 May 2001. In addition, a press statement advising the public availability of the draft variation was released by PALM on 19 May 2001.

The draft variation proposed to vary the Territory Plan by removing the "R" (subject to review) overlays, which indicate the various options for the future Gungahlin Drive extension, formerly known as the John Dedman Parkway alignment, deleting the hills, ridges and buffer areas community facility/municipal services land uses policies and replacing them with the major roads land use policy to identify the alignment which had been selected, and adjusting the public land overlay boundary to coincide with the proposed road reservation boundary. To retain the community precinct in Bruce, the draft variation also proposed to remove the major road land use policy from Leverrier Street and identify Braybrooke Street as a major road.

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