Page 4983 - Week 12 - Wednesday, 26 October 2011
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of this site has not been able to proceed for the last two years, but we should not miss this opportunity that is available now. The ACT government is committed to providing additional aged-care accommodation in Tuggeranong and, once developed, this facility will be a place where older people can reside closer to services. It will certainly help retail trade and the retention of social services in Calwell. Most of the issues that Mr Smyth has raised—issues he thinks should hold up the provision of aged care in this centre—can be dealt with without the need to produce a master plan.
In summary, we will not be supporting Mr Smyth’s motion as it appears today on the notice paper. The sale of this land for aged care for the Tuggeranong community has already been delayed for two years and it should not be delayed any further. A master plan is not required before the land is sold. The inclusion of Calwell and its priority in the master planning program in the future must be considered in the context of the planning strategy and where the wider Canberra community considers the emphasis should be placed.
It is possible for the outcome Mr Smyth seeks and the outcome government seeks to be achieved. I do not believe they are fundamentally in conflict, and I think it is entirely possible to deliver both outcomes. Many of the issues that Mr Smyth raised are, indeed, valid and need to be considered in the context of the master plan. A number of them can be considered well before that, do not require that degree of bureaucracy to be involved and can be undertaken and progressed more quickly. I am surprised that a member of the Liberal Party, a party that apparently believes in cutting red tape, wants to put this through a whole other process that will slow the delivery of an important community facility in relation to aged care in the area.
MS BRESNAN (Brindabella) (11.06): I thank Mr Smyth for raising this issue today. There are certainly a number of issues in Calwell which the community have raised over the past few years, including with me, which need to be addressed. A key issue I would like to discuss is transport. Tuggeranong generally has a number of transport problems largely due to the way it has been planned and developed and its distance from major employment centres. However, Calwell in particular is one area which has a concentration and diversity of transport problems.
Members will be aware that I have been an advocate for a park-and-ride service at the Calwell group centre. As a group centre, Calwell is ideal for an ACTION park and ride. It will help the residents in this area connect to the bus network and receive the benefits from public transport. Currently many people are parking their cars at Calwell in order to take an interstate coach to the snowfields or other places in the region south of the ACT, including Cooma. One of the benefits of a park and ride is that these travellers can use the location on the weekends to park and then travel to the region. We also know a large number of people travel from the region to the ACT for work and to access services, which is another key reason for having a park and ride at a location such as Calwell.
The next important step is finding an appropriate site for the park and ride. The government has approved Calwell as a park-and-ride location and it will now be important to develop an appropriate location in a very timely way. The community wants certainty. It makes it hard for the community to know the value of other new
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