Page 159 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 12 February 2020
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As I have said before in relation to this matter, many of the traffic issues that are being raised with us are actually existing issues in relation to how busy Gilmore Crescent is, and the intersection between Gilmore Crescent and Hospital Road. It is a very busy place. Part of that traffic is going to an existing short-stay car park that will no longer exist when SPIRE is built. We are working very closely through those issues. I want to use this process to improve traffic conditions around the hospital site. But I do not believe that the SPIRE project will worsen those outcomes. Indeed, I believe that we can work with the community to improve traffic outcomes for Gilmore Crescent and for the local community.
MRS JONES: Minister, why was the location decision made before the traffic modelling was in?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: As Mrs Dunne might see from some of the documents that were released in the FOI, there has been a lot of detailed work around the pros and cons of various options and various sites over time. Mrs Dunne’s FOI, I think, only dated from 1 January 2019, so the site decision had already been made.
There has been a lot of due diligence, with many considerations taken into account in choosing the site. There were pros and cons for different options, absolutely. But it is already a hospital precinct. There is already a hospital in that location. The location of the SPIRE itself on the site has been the subject of very detailed consideration over many years, considering all the pros and cons. And then you do the detailed traffic modelling to work out the detail of the design and the project delivery.
There are many issues to be considered when you are talking about building a major project on a hospital campus. When you are talking about the most significant modernisation of Canberra Hospital in the history of self-government—the most significant, the largest investment in health infrastructure in the history of self-government—you want to do your due diligence in relation to that. That is what this government has done, and now we are getting on with the job of building SPIRE in the best location.
MR HANSON: Minister, when will you be consulting with the community on the traffic modelling? Was the modelling done while the school was in operation?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank the Mr Hanson for the question. As I have already indicated, the traffic survey data was collected for a seven-day period in mid-December. I understand that that was before school broke up. If I am incorrect about that, of course I will let the Assembly know.
As I have also indicated, the outcomes of the analysis of the traffic survey are expected to be provided to Major Projects Canberra about now, in early to mid-February. Once I have seen that analysis, we will be releasing it to the public. We will also shortly be announcing the membership of the local community reference group. We have already had the local community forum, where we invited all 60 people who applied to be part of the local community reference group to a meeting and a workshop, where people had the opportunity to raise any issue that they wanted to.
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