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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 02 Hansard (Wednesday, 3 March 2004) . . Page.. 650 ..

their rent, we are pretty sure that they have got a stack of bills everywhere else as well. Measures for guidance on debts are already in place ahead of that, and we fund a service to do that, which was set up at the end of last year. I have not had a report on its progress at this early stage. I will check the condition of those guidelines and the advertisements that will be in place, and I will report back to you—with your supplementary as well.

MS TUCKER: Mr Speaker, I have a supplementary question. Can you reassure the community that ACT Housing is enthusiastically behind this project? You said that you would come back to the Assembly with a timeline for the guidelines that are being set up.

MR WOOD: I will do that, but I do not need to come back to you to say that we are “enthusiastically behind this”. There was one instance of a victim of domestic violence with her debt. We can waive that. We made that announcement at about the same time, or later. That is just one example of how serious we are about attending to the very difficult circumstances that some people find themselves in.

At the same time, we are continuing with a program to see that the level of debt generally across ACT Housing does not rise. There has recently been a slight increase in the level of debts. That is a minor worry, because when it happens it gets out of hand for people. We are assiduous, but understanding, in collecting rent from all our tenants. I will come back to you with the details as soon as I can.

Aged persons residential development—Belconnen golf course

MRS CROSS: Mr Speaker, my question is to the Minister for Planning, Mr Corbell. Minister, do you stand by your comments on the ABC Stateline program of 27 February this year regarding the development of the Belconnen golf club, where you said:

The government was not going to support the [proposed Madison] Development because it’s on a golf course and that golf course has already been partially redeveloped for housing and when that happened the first time the promise was made to the community no more development on the golf course and that’s what the Assembly agreed to in the early ‘90s ... Well I think the Community should take promises at their word and that’s why I said no upfront to Mr David O’Keeffe.

Mr Corbell, is this the reason that you, as the Minister for Planning, are opposed to the development of Belconnen golf club, as you stated last Friday on the Stateline program?

MR CORBELL: Mr Speaker, it is one of the reasons, and it is a very important reason. Indeed, I draw Mrs Cross’s attention to the preliminary assessment that occurred at the time that the, I think it is called, Woodhaven Green development was progressed at the Belconnen golf course. At that time one of the commitments made by the developer—I think it is actually in the preliminary assessment documentation—was that there would be no further subdivision of the course. I think, again, that is an assumption on which that assertion was made. The Assembly at the time accepted, with that assertion in mind, the variation to the territory plan that was required for that subdivision to take place and it is not unreasonable that future proponents are held to that commitment.

I think the other issues of concern which have been raised with the proponent by me and by ACTPLA relate to the relative isolation of the site in terms of aged care

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