Greens Minister Shane Rattenbury has been solidly congratulated by some Lyneham residents, in contrast to those saying he should have allowed more debate on a controversial project for the neighbourhood.
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The Lyneham Community Association says the Territory and Municipal Services Minister made the correct decision last week that the ACT government would move to block a proposal to build a school sports pavilion on the inner north oval, due to strong community opposition.
The plan included the oval being re-instated as a watered field.
Mr Rattenbury is standing by his decision not to extend a survey, which closed a few days before a planned meeting on the issue.
"This is a lengthy process where debate took place over 10 months or so and the survey was really the final step in that," he said on Monday.
"The closing date for this survey was advertised as the eleventh of September and North Canberra Community Council did not organise their meeting before that closing date and they could have if they wanted to.
"We had an advertised closing date for the survey and I felt for the integrity of the survey, it was best not to alter that because it had been advertised as a closing date.
"I think there would have been plenty of scope to organise a public meeting before that and that could have been a valuable contribution in the process."
The government-commissioned survey found 62 per cent of residents oppose Brindabella Christian College's plan to build a two-storey sports pavilion and car park.
Mr Rattenbury said last Tuesday the government would not endorse the plan, due to be debated at the meeting last week of the North Canberra Community Council.
The meeting went ahead, with the "Yes" and "No" arguments put and debated, despite the decision having already been made.
Council chairman Mike Hettinger said on Sunday he was very disappointed the minister did not defer his decision until after the debate.
He said the general feeling of the meeting was the proposal would have been good for Lyneham oval.
Greg Zwajgenberg, the school's acting board chairman, said during the weekend he was disappointed Mr Rattenbury had moved so swiftly and publicly on the issue.
However Trevor Vickers, spokesman for the Lyneham Community Association, supported Mr Rattenbury's decision.
"The Lyneham Community Association welcomes the announcement by Minister Rattenbury not to support the proposal by a private business to sub-lease and build on a portion of the local community oval," he said.
"I think the whole community is grateful to Mr Rattenbury for the integrity he has brought to the process.
"He sought the views of the community, listened to their concerns, and has acted promptly on those views.
"People have told me of their relief that the oval will remain a resource for the local community and the expected influx of residents as Lyneham's population increases as a result of development, especially along the Northbourne Avenue corridor.
"The community is looking forward to putting this recent issue behind us, and working towards strengthening ties within the community.
"We hope the government will work with local residents to implement a community-led management model for the area, as proposed by the LCA recently."
Asked if the school could revise the project, Mr Rattenbury said: "It is a very difficult environment at the moment but if the school does want to proceed in the future, they'll need to work closely with the community to build a level of support and consensus.
"As a good neighbour, they need to engage with their community and actually work together for the benefit of all."
