A Canberra community council has rejected erroneous claims in an ACT Government report that the council supported rezoning land along the corridor of Stage Two of the light rail project.
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In an apparent "editorial error" by consultants working for the ACT Government, the Inner South Canberra Community Council was mistakenly cited as supporting rezoning land along the rail corridor.
But council chair Marea Fatseas said on Tuesday it had not even reached an official position on zoning along the rail corridor and it was too early in the planning process to make such a call.
She said that somehow the questions the council had posed during consultations had been turned into claimed support for rezoning, and the council would need to meet with local residents to consider the project in more detail before reaching a position.
The error was contained in a report on public consultations about Stage Two of the light rail project the government released this week, which also revealed it was unlikely the light rail project would extend all the way to Canberra Hospital.
A two-page letter the council sent the government during consultations posed a series of questions about various issues, but did not present any official position from the council on the project or related zoning issues.
A government spokesman said on Tuesday an "editorial error" was identified that incorrectly claimed the council supported such rezonings, but it had already been corrected and updated in the online report.
"As an important stakeholder on this project, the ACT Government will continue to engage the [council] and value their views on the future of Light Rail Stage 2," he said.
The spokesman has also responded to questions about various "technical constraints" related to the project, citing the "gradients" along Yamba and Mawson drives, as one of the key constraints to the rail track extending to the hospital.
"Other issues associated with a possible Canberra Hospital terminus include increased travel times for any future southern extension, distance to the Canberra Hospital entrance from the terminus, and utility works associated with an extension to the Canberra Hospital," he said.
But he did not answer questions about whether cost was a relevant factor in the constraints around the hospital extension.
The government has previously said cost of the Stage Two project would be "comparable" to the $939 million cost of the City to Gungahlin line.
The consultation report also said that various "preliminary technical investigations" were underway, which should be completed by years' end, but it is unclear whether the government will publicly release those reports.
