A fiery atmosphere filled the Wesley Uniting Church hall on Thursday night as a full house of more than 300 residents met to voice concerns about the Manuka Oval redevelopment.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mutters under breaths, sarcastic laughs and frustrated grumbles were heard at the Inner South Canberra Community Council's public meeting, while the ACT government's Gary Rake explained the benefits of unsolicited bids and assured transparency and probity in assessing the proposal by GWS and Grocon.
The crowd appeared far from satisfied.
Residents reiterated anger over feeling kept in the dark, disbelief that Manuka could handle the congestion caused by an extra 4000 traffic movements, and distrust that the heritage sites would remain untouched.
One resident asked when the politicians first knew about the proposal, to which Mr Rake replied he didn't know.
Another was furious the government "was considering selling public land for commercial gain".
"This is an ACT-wide issue," the Aranda resident yelled, while met with nods and "hear, hear" throughout the room.
"We don't want our precious public land taken away from us!"
A Griffith woman said she'd like to see community consultation done to community standards, not to government standards.
The hall brimmed with applause when former NSW auditor general Tony Harris called for competition and open tenders for developing Manuka Oval.
One man expressed disappointment Mr Rake, the deputy director-general of the ACT Environment and Planning Directorate, was the only government representative taking questions.
"Where are the politicians?" he asked.
He pointed out that Greens MLA Shane Rattenbury was "quietly sitting down the front" but called on planning minister Mick Gentleman to show up to front the crowd.
The Canberra Times on Wednesday reported Mr Rattenbury intervened in the Manuka Oval redevelopment controversy, asking chief minister Andrew Barr to start again with a masterplan and a community group to decide what was best for the site.
Mr Barr has already sought to push the development out of the election campaign, by saying no work would begin until after the cricket Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in the 2018-19 summer.
Mr Rattenbury's call will force him to act more quickly on a new planning process.
