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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2002 Week 14 Hansard (11 December) . . Page.. 4305 ..

MR HARGREAVES (continuing):

I mentioned earlier that, as a demonstration of good faith, I had written to the National Capital Authority outlining my concerns and seeking their views on issues before us. I have to admit to being a little surprised when I finally received a response to my letter. It came, not from the NCA, but directly from the minister, Mr Tuckey. But that was not the first surprise I received with that letter. Mr Tuckey accepted that the Y-plan had underpinned the strategic development of Canberra and had continuing relevance through the general policy plan for metropolitan Canberra which is included in the National Capital Plan. He also accepted that it is binding on both the Commonwealth and territory governments and their agencies.

So far, so good, I thought. Mr Tuckey then noted that the National Capital Plan also sets out employment location policies that are central to the achievement and maintenance of the Y-plan principles and he acknowledged that the role of the Commonwealth in establishing the office employment base at the Woden, Belconnen and Tuggeranong town centres was vital in establishing the town centres. I digress for a second, Mr Speaker, to highlight that there was no mention of Gungahlin in the letter from Mr Tuckey. I thought that those points were excellent, but then came the real agenda. He wrote:

The Commonwealth is no longer developing or commissioning office developments for its own use and new policy instruments are required to guide the location of major office employment.

I became scared. He went on:

The Authority considers that the continuing and contemporary relevance of the Y-Plan now requires review with regard to sustainability, Commonwealth property ownership policies and transport strategies (among other issues). This is of relevance and is complementary to the Territory's current Spatial Plan considerations.

Further, he said:

I am advised that the Authority intends to comprehensively review the Employment Location Policies of the National Capital Plan early next year when the Journey to Work data from the 2001 census is expected to be available.

So there it is to be a comprehensive review of the employment location policies. You might think that it would be just another dull bureaucratic review, Mr Speaker, but there is more-the real agenda on the airport and its transition into a de facto town centre.

The National Capital Authority is proposing to review the policies that currently apply at the airport to formally recognise the airport as a major employment location-read de facto town centre. This can occur without any real reference to the Assembly, because the airport is situated on national land administered by the Commonwealth Department of Transport and Regional Services. The site of the airport, including RAAF Fairbairn, falls within the central national area, that is, a designated area where all works are subject to approval by the National Capital Authority.

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