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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 3 Hansard (12 March) . . Page.. 959 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

experiment became the way we did it. That was because of the dearth of facilities that Belconnen had compared with other parts of Canberra.

There were two interesting proposals to renovate Kippax. I thought both of them were quite good. I went to meetings on both about two years. One was to upgrade the fitness centre and build a new library and other community facilities. The other one involved another supermarket, a new library and some upgraded facilities. The fitness centre, which was used by a lot of people, closed. I put some questions on the notice paper about the fitness centre and got some responses. There has been vandalism there, as one would expect. In fact, arson has been attempted. The place as it stands is quite dangerous. Mr Corbell said that something is happening there and that there are complications because the land is leased to a private individual. But I hope that there is movement there, and very quickly. It is an eyesore. Whatever the government needs to do to get that moving it should do.

I have been very concerned. I get complaints from the LAPAC and from various people in north-west Belconnen about the lack of progress in relation to the Kippax centre and the concerns both Ms Dundas and Mrs Dunne have expressed in relation to the library. It is crucially important that we have a permanent library there as soon as possible. I am a little bit heartened by what Mr Wood has had to say, but there is nothing definite. I will believe it when I see it. That library has either been under threat or has been substandard for far too long.

Like both Ms Dundas and Mrs Dunne, I have met constituents there. I did a Meet the Minister there. I got a better table than Ms Dundas, probably one similar to Mrs Dunne's. I took up a lot of room with constituents. It is poky little library. Operating in the place brings home to you just how small it is.

A lot of people use that library. A lot of elderly people who live around Kippax use the library and the centre. It is one of the more popular libraries. It is one of the best used libraries in Canberra. I am not sure how many hours a week it operates, but there is a desire for that temporary library-it was only ever meant to be temporary-to become a permanent library. We still do not have that and we still do not have the community facility.

The area is changing. There have been quite a few APUs, and in recent times we have seen Dunlop develop. Kippax, the major group centre in the area, services the growing area of Dunlop. North-west Belconnen has a catchment population of about 30,000. It is a very significant area of Canberra.

Mr Corbell: Didn't you close a high school in West Belconnen?

MR STEFANIAK: It had three people in it, Mr Corbell.

MR STEFANIAK: What have you done in north-west Belconnen? You tried to close the library. You and your government now seem to accept the need for a permanent library. Your colleague Mr Wood has indicated that he is gunning for a library.

Mr Corbell: Mr Deputy Speaker, I take a point of order.

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