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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (12 March) . . Page.. 953 ..

MR CORBELL (continuing):

including at Kippax. This study was completed prior to Christmas, and the report was released to the public in February by Mr Wood. Mr Wood will outline further some of the activities flowing from that study in relation to the provision of public library facilities at Kippax. I will leave that to him to address.

Planning and Land Management have been undertaking the community facility needs assessment for Central Canberra, Gungahlin and Belconnen. This is cross-city work that is needed to determine demand for community facilities and whether there is adequate provision of land if additional facilities are identified as being needed.

Another issue is the existing health centre at Kippax, its location, the need to improve access and the need to improve facilities and services offered by the centre.

Those are the key issues outstanding as a result of a significant period of inaction by the previous government. Having considered all of those issues, the government now believes it is in a position to move forward and address them. A series of proposals will be put together as a result of this analysis and released to the West Belconnen community for its comment shortly. The proposals will include a potential new location for a new library, along with changes to access to the existing ACT health centre and the release of commercial land currently vacant at the Kippax group centre.

That is the approach the government is taking. It is a hands-on approach. We are moving forward. We believe that these issues can be resolved in a much shorter timeframe than that proposed by Ms Dundas. That is why we will not be supporting the motion today. We believe we need to move on. There has already been significant public consultation on the issues at Kippax.

The variation to the Territory Plan that was reported on by the planning committee in the last Assembly and tabled in this place last year involved very extensive public consultation on people's aspirations, views and concerns about the existing design of Kippax. That process of varying the Territory Plan has addressed many of those issues-not all of them, but many of them.

In addition, there has been public consultation on the community facility needs assessment and on the library study. So there have been extensive pieces of work involving community discussion and consultation. It is now time for the government to put the proposals on the table in its response to all the issues and concerns that have been raised, both through public consultation and through the detailed expert studies, and to ask people what they think of proposals to address the issues around the library, the release of commercial land, access to the health centre and services provided by the health centre.

That is the government's approach. Quite frankly, a master planning process in this circumstance will not assist in the resolution of those issues. In fact, it will only delay it. The government wants to move forward and address the issues. I have outlined the process that the government has agreed to. The proposals I have outlined will be released to the community shortly. Mr Wood will be able to outline to members in more detail the issues to do with the library.

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