The CSIRO Ginninderra land sale will deliver 700 ha to the ACT. Photo: CSIRO.
A business case for the development of the CSIRO Ginninderra land should already have been prepared, given the history of the issue and the imminent sealing of a deal with the Commonwealth for the sale of the 700ha property to the ACT, Independent MLA Thomas Emerson says.
Mr Emerson made the claim after revelations from Suburban Land Agency CEO Adam Davey at Budget Estimates that a business case was yet to be completed.
He said later that planning for the site in Canberra’s north should be more progressed than it was, given the urgent need for new affordable housing in Canberra.
Mr Davey said the SLA had been working on a business case, and it was close to being completed, but he would not put a timeframe on that.
Earlier, in response to questions from Opposition Leader Leanne Castley, he had been vague about the building of a business case and the detail and cost of any proposed development on the site, including how many homes it might support, giving a back-of-the-envelope guess of a couple of thousand.
Mr Emerson asked why a business case had not already been developed given the decade-long negotiations with the Commonwealth and the fact that ACT Ministers wrote to federal ministers last March pleading for the sale to proceed.
Finance Minister Katy Gallagher approved the sale in February this year, but negotiations have dragged on.
“I’m not saying we haven’t been working on a business case,” Mr Davey told Mr Emerson.
“I’ve been saying we’re in discussions with another body about acquiring land, but that process does involve a lot of work, detailed, complex work, building a business case that would ultimately put to the government a case that the proposed acquisition stacks up in a way that is good value.”
Independent MLA Thomas Emerson: Where’s the urgency? Photo: Ian Bushnell.
Mr Emerson said later that Mr Davey’s response showed an alarming lack of proactive planning from the ACT Government.
“The CSIRO Ginninderra development has been under consideration since 2015,” he said.
“Why wasn’t a business case prepared at some point in the past decade?”
Mr Emerson said he heard regularly from desperate Canberrans in need of a home.
“Single parents, young people, vulnerable women escaping violence. They’ve got nowhere to go,” he said. “Where’s the urgency to address our community’s most basic needs?
“We all know our city is facing a serious housing crisis, but being told during public hearings that the Suburban Land Agency’s anticipated yield for dwellings on this site is ‘just a guess’ goes to show this crisis is not being taken seriously.”
Mr Emerson also asked Mr Davey about a previous briefing he had attended with SLA officials while working for Senator David Pocock at Parliament House in which three density profiles were discussed with specific yield ranges for each.
“I’m trying to square that with your evidence today that the anticipated yield is now just a guess,” Mr Emerson said.
Mr Davey responded that he was limited commercially about what detail he could provide with the sale process ongoing, but Mr Emerson questioned what commercial sensitivities there would be about already publicly shared information.
Mr Davey took the question about density profiles on notice.
Earlier, he had told Ms Castley that if the land were acquired today, it would be a few years before there would be any development on the site, given the level of planning and approvals required.
He would not pinpoint any sticking points in the negotiations, other than to say it was a complex transaction. But he told Greens MLA Jo Clay details of the eventual sale would be released along with the business case.
After the hearing, Mr Emerson urged the parties to get the land deal done, “and get on with addressing the affordable housing shortage that’s crushing the life prospects of so many people across our community”.
