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Canberra Today 15°/18° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

Ombudsman buries Barr’s land-swap secrets

Filling in the lake at West Basin… 140 of 187 submissions lodged during the consultation period expressed opposition to the project.

It’s taken more than a year to bludgeon, under freedom of information, details about the secretive land swap between the ACT government and the National Capital Authority. But despite appeals to the Ombudsman, the taxpayers remain blind to the values involved in swapping 32 hectares of land at Curtin for 2.8 hectares at West Basin. Reporter BELINDA STRAHORN discovers that elements of the bureaucracy weren’t too thrilled about the deal, either…

THE true cost of the controversial West Basin land swap deal remains hidden behind a series of heavily redacted documents, obtained under Freedom of Information (FOI) legislation.

In a secret deal which saw the Barr government hand over 32 hectares of North Curtin’s horse paddocks and securing 2.8 hectares of land at West Basin, for its lakefront development, as part of the land swap with the National Capital Authority (NCA).

The real value of the two parcels of land remains a mystery, however in email exchanges included in the FOI documents, a Suburban Land Agency director questions why the ACT government is providing the North Curtin horse paddocks to the NCA at “seemingly no cost”.

The series of email exchanges clearly implicates the office of the Chief Minister and its heavy involvement with the planning, financial and technical aspects of the project. 

In one email, a policy director in the Chief Minister’s office wrote to a manager in the Chief Minister, Treasury & Economic Development Directorate (CMTEDD), saying: “Following our meeting about the various land issues under discussion…[has] there been any progress or updates you can provide… can you please remind me who was doing the work on scoping alternative options for West Basin that don’t involve reclaiming the lakebed?”

Further emails between the Chief Minister’s office and the directorate, underline the importance of the reclamation of the lakebed to the project.

In an email, a manager in CMTEDD advises the Chief Minister’s office that: “The [CRA’s] advice is that absence of the lakebed site would significantly impact on the land available for development and viability of the precinct.”

Other emails between senior public servants confirm that without  reclaiming the lakebed, the development at West Basin would not have gone ahead, because it would have been deemed financially unviable.

A project director in the City Renewal Authority (CRA) all but confirmed in an email to CMTEDD that without the land reclamation it would be “extremely unlikely that the estate would proceed”.

The West Basin project, given the green light in September last year, forms part of the Barr government’s long-held vision to upgrade the prime lakefront site.

The development stirred a great deal of community interest at the time, with 140 of 187 submissions lodged during the consultation period expressing opposition to the project. 

The waterfront development will see about 2.8 hectares of lakebed land reclaimed, or filled in, and a boardwalk built along the redefined lake edge.

While the number of low-rise apartments to be built at West Basin, in the second half of the decade is unknown; the Chief Minister has said it would number in the hundreds, rather than the thousands as previously stated. 

The documents released indicate the number to be 2000 and any development needs to be set back 55 metres from the lake’s edge and not be taller than 25 metres at any point.

Filling in the lake at West Basin… 140 of 187 submissions lodged during the consultation period expressed opposition to the project.

Former ACT Chief Minister Jon Stanhope argues that the ACT government has not been upfront with its dealings in relation to the North Curtin horse paddocks and West Basin.

“It’s remarkable,” Mr Stanhope said.

“The government refuses to tell the residents of Canberra the value of 32 hectares of highly valuable land, in the geographical centre of Canberra, in Curtin, that they gave away. It’s a public asset, surely the public has a right to know its value.

“It has also redacted, albeit with the blessing of the Ombudsman, the costs of the work that is currently underway at West Basin.

“That is public money, once again I find it remarkable that the government can spend public money and not tell us how much they are spending.”

Mr Stanhope lodged the FOI request for documents relating to the controversial land swap over a year ago, after the National Capital Authority (NCA) and the ACT government refused to divulge information requested by “CityNews” for the valuation of the parcels of land involved in the deal.

Dr Jenny Stewart, a professor of public policy at UNSW Canberra, argues that the West Basin development was dominated by the need to “maximise development revenue” from the sale of land in the precinct, hence the determination to reclaim part of the lakebed. 

The West Basin development was always poor planning, now we know it is poor economics as well,” Dr Stewart said.

On reviewing the documents, Dr Stewart said the redaction of land valuation data for both West Basin and the land in Curtin probably reflects the government’s desire to protect its commercial position in relation to West Basin.

“With so little information provided, it is impossible to form any view about the overall merits of the land swap, but the documents definitely give the impression that the comparative methodologies employed in relation to West Basin, were being driven by the Chief Minister’s desire to see the development go ahead, rather than any real consideration of alternative scenarios,” Dr Stewart said.

Dr Stewart went on to question the NCA’s motive in the land swap deal and the ACT government’s future intent for other lake foreshores.

“The NCA would appear to have done very well out of the deal, clearly, its responsibility to protect the lake counted for very little when compared to its commitment to the expansion of the diplomatic estate,” Dr Stewart said.

“While the land swap is presumably a one-off, citizens should be concerned about the potential for further alienation of the lake foreshores as the ACT government pursues its development agenda.”

 

 

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Belinda Strahorn

Belinda Strahorn

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