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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2003 Week 9 Hansard (26 August) . . Page.. 3189 ..

MR STEFANIAK (continuing):

baseball played on our ovals-and Little Athletics. Many of these are played in summer and others in winter.

Sporting fields are a wonderful resource. Of course, we also see a large number of senior games played on our basic suburban fields. Ovals are divided into four categories. Already this year, 40 hectares of category 4 ovals-the low use/low maintenance ovals-have had little or no watering. Five written submissions were received as a result of public consultation on the draft variation, four of which expressed support, while three of those also raised other issues. Issues raised included, among other things, matters concerning precinct boundaries, height, accessibility and parking.

Those ovals are used mainly for junior cricket in the summer and for junior soccer, rugby, rugby league and the AFL in winter. Those ovals are in Campbell, Charnwood, Chisholm, Curtin South, Evatt, Farrer, Florey, Garran, Gilmore, Hall, Isabella, Kaleen South, Lyneham, MacGregor, Mawson, Melba, Monash, Ngunnawal, Pearce, Richardson, Spence, Theodore and Watson. It is particularly sad, in a way, because I recall this minister bringing some of those ovals back to full maintenance. Indeed, a lot was spent at Hall. Nevertheless, they receive little or no water at this stage.

I am enormously concerned at reports that category 3 ovals-district playing fields and high-use neighbourhood ovals-will cease to be watered after 1 October. I am not sure if the minister has yet made up his mind. I have heard other reports indicating a 40 per cent reduction in water use. If that were done right across the board, I think it would be crazy-and I will explain why. Five written submissions were received as a result of public consultation on the draft variation, four of which expressed support, while three of those also raised other issues. Issues raised included, among other things, matters concerning precinct boundaries, height, accessibility and parking.

Mr Quinlan: I will not be.

MR STEFANIAK: I am glad to hear that, Minister.

Mr Quinlan: Probably not.

MR STEFANIAK: I put it to you that it certainly should not be. In 1996, when the then government, in which I was a minister, looked at trying to make some savings, we thought that, if we made a 30 per cent reduction in watering across a number of ovals, that would assist.

It was quickly and effectively pointed out to me by a well-recognised expert-Mr Keith McIntyre-that to do that would kill off those ovals, making it very difficult for them to be used, and would mean spending millions of dollars repairing and replacing them. So we did not proceed with that move.

Mr McIntyre, who is recognised as an expert around town, used to be in charge of the technical services unit in ACT Parks and Conservation Services. His small group was responsible for the technical management of all turf and irrigation in the ACT government. They won the Ed Hunter award, in the USA, for excellence in urban

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