Page 1911 - Week 07 - Thursday, 23 August 2007
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The Woden town centre master plan, which underwent considerable consultation with local stakeholders, including the Woden Valley Community Council, recommended that the entire northern entertainment, accommodation and leisure and restricted access recreation precinct be varied to permit office and residential development. This was intended to provide an additional incentive to upgrade public infrastructure like the swimming pool, the ice-skating rink, Phillip oval, restaurants, squash courts and all of the other facilities there. Significant funds are required to repair and upgrade the pool. This can be achieved only by permitting broader development opportunities to subsidise the refurbishments needed. The requirement for the lessee of the Phillip pool site to continue to provide a 50-metre pool and an ice-skating rink was retained and is included as a control in the commercial B land use policies.
Another issue that I understand is of concern—or has been—is the future of Phillip oval as a premier Australian rules oval. The proposed territory plan map and Woden town centre precincts map contained a final variation to protect the oval and have been amended to extend the restricted access recreation land use policy and public land overlay over the whole of the Phillip oval site—block 9, section 23—except for the south-east and south-west portions fronting Launceston Street, which will be subject to commercial B precinct land use policy. This has been done to ensure that the sporting and recreational uses of the oval are protected.
The government recently agreed to fund the reinstatement of Phillip oval to optimise recreation and urban design outcomes. The commercial development is concentrated on the Launceston Street frontage, while the oval perimeter is reserved for future grandstands, with possible community and commercial uses at street level. The existing oval site is proposed to be subdivided to create a single development site of about 2,500 square metres in the south-west corner fronting Launceston Street. This commercial site affects about five per cent of the existing site area of almost 4.4 hectares. On the basis that any commercial activity incorporated into the grandstands will be ancillary to the sporting functions of the oval, the final version of the variation was amended to incorporate the whole of the balance of the Phillip oval site—not including the two Launceston Street corner blocks—into the restricted access recreation land use policy.
I do not consider that the changes proposed in the variation will detract from the provision of sport, leisure and recreation opportunities in the Woden town centre. In fact, this variation actually increases the protection for the pool and the ice-skating rink. The current entertainment, accommodation and leisure land use policy does not ensure the retention of the existing recreation facilities except for the pool.
Whilst the proposed commercial land use policy will provide a greater range of options, it will continue to make provisions for all the existing facilities. I acknowledge that it does not ensure their retention. But the territory plan cannot and should not ensure the ongoing viability of these facilities. This variation does provide a higher level of protection than exists under the current policy and provides for a vibrant precinct around these facilities which can add to their viability.
In regard to concerns about height that have been raised, there are currently no restrictions on height under the current entertainment, accommodation and leisure or
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