Page 1179 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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ACT Labor will undertake a study and seek community feedback on the ideal location for this purpose-built facility, which will be the only elite athletics track outside the Australian Institute of Sport, which provides only limited access to community groups like Athletics ACT.
But what they did was conduct a study which did not explore all of the possible options for the location of the new synthetic track. Instead, it was limited to just five locations. They conducted a study which did not include the location at Mount Stromlo, which was known as the preferred option of Athletics ACT. They conducted very little consultation on the options that were being studied, and they are now going to build a track on a site which their own consultants report noted had “various disadvantages”.
We have a situation where those who are supposed to benefit from this track do not support the proposal going forward. As a result, we have to seek to have this project delayed to ensure that all options are fully explored and that the views of those who will actually use this track are taken into account.
The lack of consultation and community feedback has been highlighted by a number of athletics groups throughout the ACT. An article published on 12 March of this year in the Chronicle provides an insight into the issue. The Lanyon and Ginninderra little athletics clubs say that there has not been enough consultation over which site on the south side would be best for the facility. The president of the Lanyon little athletics club, Mr Lakatos, has said that while there had been a call for a south side athletics track for many years, rushing plans for the Woden site would be a mistake.
Due to the poor process put in place by the government, we have another piece of infrastructure put into jeopardy. Why should we be surprised? This is not the first time that we have seen the government bungle on infrastructure because they did not do the proper legwork. We saw the government office building, a well-known project for Mr Barr. We saw $4 million wasted on a report on the office block which did not properly explore all of the options for building and owning the building later. The project was scrapped. There was the Gungahlin pool, promised years ago. When we came to this place in the lead-up to the last election, the government was still talking about a 25-metre pool rather than a 50-metre pool. And now it looks as though it will be built in 2015, 11 years after it was first promised.
It does not stop there. Just in the sporting portfolio we see a number of projects that have been delayed by years. There is the restoration of sportsgrounds, with Charnwood and Isabella Plains expected to be completed in March 2012. Now funding will not cease until 2013-14. Lyneham sports precinct is another. The Gungahlin enclosed oval is another. Whether we are looking across major infrastructure programs in areas like roads or whether we are looking at programs in health or sport, we are seeing a government that is just not getting it right when it comes to delivering infrastructure.
While this motion calls for action on one particular development, what has been highlighted is the neglect that all community ovals and playing fields across the ACT
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