Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .
Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 4 Hansard (2 April) . . Page.. 1310 ..
MR SMYTH (continuing):
One of the key factors has been the release of a report entitled, The ecological values of the Watson woodland: a case for preservation.
Mr Corbell went on to say:
... the woodland is important because it represents this type of forest community and it is at the lowest altitudinal component of the gradient of the open forest and woodland communities ...
The government-
the Liberal Party government of the day-
proposes that this site be developed for residential use ... The government argues that the site can be retained ...
But Mr Corbell went on to say:
I argue that the government's approach is fundamentally flawed. It is flawed in one very important respect: that preserving only part of the site diminishes the capacity of the site to be a representative element of this endangered ecological community. Just as importantly, permitting residential development in the remaining component, with tree protection measures-
what did the Chief Minister say about having residential development in the remaining component with tree protection measures?-
does not allow that woodland to continue to operate as an intact ecological community. Indeed, given the nature of the trees on the site, it is commonsense to see that residential development within the site will lead to pressure for tree removal and changes to the woodland setting over time.
You get into government and all the wisdom and common sense of Mr Corbell goes out the window because you have to balance the books and you have to put more people in more houses.
Mrs Cross: Do you think he got rolled?
MR SMYTH: We were saying that when we were in government. As Mrs Cross points out, somebody got rolled and somebody is now not here to defend his position because it is now indefensible. Mr Corbell opened that debate on behalf of the Labor Party that Mr Stanhope leads in government by saying:
The Labor Party has come to the view-and I have also come personally to the view-that the area of north Watson-
he was talking about all of it-
is of significant environmental value and that this warrants its removal from the residential land use policy and its inclusion at the very least as an area of urban open space.
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . .