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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 03 Hansard (Thursday, 11 March 2004) . . Page.. 1052 ..

are particularly infirm and who may in fact be nursing home occupants. So the evacuation issues are of concern for people who are infirm, people in a nursing home context.

Indeed, there are now measures in parts of Sydney to ensure that these facilities are not built in areas that are bushfire prone because of the problems associated with evacuation of elderly or infirm people in an emergency.

The Belconnen Golf Club is among a number of potential proposals by lessees of other restricted recreation sites including other golf courses, enclosed ovals, tennis centres and swimming facilities that have sought the government’s support for land use policy changes to enable the use of the land for more profitable purposes, particularly residential. A number of these have stated that they would like to target their proposals to the older persons’ residential market.

Despite the recognised importance of older persons’ housing, the Assembly and the government must also consider the progressive loss of recreational facilities for both current and future generations. It is a key concern that must be balanced against any proposal for expansion of residential uses if we are to continue in our pursuit of building a city that achieves healthy and sustainable communities.

Those are a number of the concerns that the government has raised with the proponent. The proponent has been advised on a number of occasions that the government does not support the proposal. On each occasion the proponent was advised that the government did not support the proposal, the proponent requested that the matter be reconsidered. The proponent, in some instances, presented further advice on issues that he felt would address or alleviate the government’s concerns.

The government of course met with the proponent and listened to those concerns. I have to advise members that as of February this year the government has again formally advised the proponent that we do not support the proposal. We feel that we have been up front and consistent in the views that we have expressed in relation to this. That is not to say that the government is not addressing issues to do with the provision of land for aged persons’ accommodation. Indeed, it is a high priority of the government. It should be noted that ACTPLA, the Land Development Agency, the Chief Minister’s department, and ACT Health are working directly with the Commonwealth to coordinate the land requirements for residential aged care complexes.

I have recently informed the Assembly of six development applications out of 11 for aged persons’ accommodation that have been approved since January 2002—six out of 11. A number of other applications that may accommodate aged persons’ accommodations have been determined or are still under consideration by the ACT Planning and Land Authority. Members will also be aware that the government has developed a proactive strategy for streamlining the delivery of aged care facilities and housing for older persons. These initiatives include the case management of aged accommodation projects, the development of a land release program to provide for sufficient beds to meet projected demand, and the alignment of Commonwealth bed allocation policies—

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