Page 4976 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011

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(b) the planned sale by tender of Section 790, Block 5 in Calwell for a proposed aged care facility, with tenders closing on 22 November 2011; and

(2) calls on the government to postpone the proposed sale of Section 790, Block 5 in Calwell until it has developed a master plan for the Calwell commercial and shopping precinct and the surrounding area.

The focus of my motion is on the Calwell retail and commercial precinct. I am sure that the area is well known to members of this place. It services not just Calwell and Theodore but also a lot of the traffic that comes off Tharwa Drive and Johnson Drive will shop there. Also, people in nearby Richardson are affected by this area. Adjacent to the area, of course, is the Tuggeranong Homestead and all stations south into Conder, Banks and Gordon also have an interest in this precinct.

I would like to emphasise the surrounding area. I am saying that this also encompasses the area to the east of the Alliance Church, which is the site of the proposed aged-care facility. Of course, the transport precinct on Johnson Drive includes the ambulance station and the entire block on which Tuggeranong Homestead is located.

There are three key reasons underlying my motion today. First, it is evident that some redevelopment is already being undertaken in the vicinity of the Calwell centre itself and it is important that this activity be considered in an appropriate, broader context. Indeed, for those who live in the area or who know the area well, there used to be some commercial units across from the existing shopping centre, which have now gone and been replaced by accommodation.

The second, of course, is the concerns of the community, which have been raised in numerous public meetings. Those concerns have been conveyed to me. I have heard some of those concerns at some of the meetings and I understand that letters have been written to various ministers. Third is the recent proposal to offer an adjoining block of land for an aged-care facility. Before I deal with the positive aspects of this important matter, I must again emphasise the failure of the government to approach planning matters in the correct, logical order.

Once again, this government is approaching planning matters the wrong way round. Once again, we have this government making a decision about a particular matter—in this instance, the location of an aged-care facility—without having an appropriate overall strategy for the area. And once again, we have a detailed decision in the absence of a master plan.

Do I need to remind members about the approach to the proposed great big new government office building, where we do not have a government office accommodation strategy? Indeed, the building will inform the strategy, according to the minister. Do I need to remind members about the ongoing fiasco which has been the new headquarters for the Emergency Services Agency?

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