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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 2004 Week 09 Hansard (Thursday, 19 August 2004) . . Page.. 3953 ..

We should get some more commitment to Summernats, we should get more commitment from this government to motor sport and we should have better commitment from this government to a dragway in the ACT, encouraging the clubs and organisations that make Canberra or contribute to making Canberra what it is—a diverse city which is not culturally highbrow. We should not have a culturally highbrow approach to motor sport in this city.

MR WOOD (Minister for Disability, Housing and Community Services, Minister for Urban Services, Minister for Police and Emergency Services and Minister for Arts and Heritage) (4.33): Whoever suggested we did have a highbrow approach to motor sport? Oh, you did. Oh, yes, you did. That’s my speech.

MR SMYTH (Leader of the Opposition) (4.33): Following that very short commentary from Mr Wood on the support for the dragway: Mr Quinlan in his speech was critical of the noise regime at Fairbairn Park. I think, just to correct the record, the noise regime at Fairbairn Park was actually put in place by Mr Corbell in December 1997. He successfully amended a disallowance motion of Mr Moore’s in a revision of the noise regime there. So if Mr Quinlan has problems with the noise regime, he might take it up with Mr Corbell.

In regard to the noise: there are two reports that have been done in the last decade. One was started actually in 1994 by a former Deputy Chief Minister, one David Lamont of the Labor Party, which I think was received ultimately in 1996. It basically said that Majura was a place for motor sport activity and the noise levels would be acceptable; they would be within the bounds of the standards at that time. Indeed, the 2001 report that Mr Stefaniak had done came to the same conclusions. So lets not hide behind what effect the noise might have.

There are reports that say that Majura is the ideal site for such facilities in the ACT and we should stop hiding and start committing. That’s something we don’t expect to get from this government. It is a do-nothing government. It makes promises that it avoids and there are many people out there who feel betrayed by what happened after the last election and the fact that almost three years into the life of this government there still isn’t any action on a dragway in the ACT.

Mr Speaker, to back up what Mr Pratt said: I’ve received a letter from a constituent in Willoughby Crescent, Gilmore. For those who don’t know Gilmore, it’s up on the hill, up on the rise, behind Rose Cottage Inn. It connects into Louisa Lawson Crescent, which is a main street through a large part of Gilmore. There are a lot of residences in Louisa Lawson Crescent and certainly in the streets that come off it.

The letter reads:

It takes a really unfortunate incident to cause me to write this letter to you and I hope that you will make representations on our behalf.

So to the residents of Willoughby Crescent in Gilmore, here are the representations in your Assembly. The letter continues:

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