Land around Alivio Tourist Park considered for urban infill a decade ago without consultation

A cabinet submission made by Andrew Barr in 2011 with a list of potential urban infill sites was only considering the situation at a surface level, the business said.

The natural land around Alivio Tourist Park in O'Connor was one of many sites identified for potential urban infill within the submission.

Alivio Group chief operations officer, Nicko Ivanov, said he was shocked by the idea and more needed to be considered when looking into areas for new housing within the community.

Mr Ivanov had no doubt of the need for more housing as Canberra continued to grow, but said the tourism industry, in the case of Alivio Tourist Park, was just as important.

"I can see many areas across Canberra as a sustainable approach to land use within Canberra's busy urban corridors, though specifically for Alivio Tourist Park we also very much value the natural oasis our beautiful property has to offer guests while staying in Canberra," he said.

"Further development proposed adjacent to our property would have an impact on this oasis and on the valued nature reserve that currently surrounds Alivio Tourist Park. It would change the experiences of our guests."

Mr Barr's submission included a list of over 70 locations around the ACT for potential future infill sites when he was planning minister without consulting the community beforehand.

Cabinet decided to pursue a shorter list of sites, prioritising projects that would have broad community support instead.

The latest draft district planning strategy for Canberra's inner north has no suggestion of releasing the land around the holiday park for housing. The strategy's map marks the land as open space.

Mr Barr's decade-old submission said there was a significant likelihood of opposition to releasing the sites for urban infill from the community.

"All infill sites have a high-degree risk of possible neighbourhood opposition," it read.

Mr Ivanov said the lack of consultation was unfair, showing limited understanding and acknowledgement of how any infill on this particular site would impact the current establishments.

"The tourism industry is just as important for the future of the ACT as housing is," he said.

The submission said the major driving force for the proposals was the belief they would have "broad benefits for Canberra" generally.

Mr Barr said in the submission the urban intensification in Canberra would have positive social, environmental and economic outcomes.

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"Benefits could include increased affordability, liveability and accessibility of neighbourhoods and viability of nearby local and group centres," he said in the submission.

A spokeswoman from the ACT government confirmed some of the sites listed in the submission were still being looked into for potential infill opportunities.

Other sites included in the submission were the North Curtin Horse Paddocks, open space in Ainslie on Quick Street, a stretch along Athllon Drive between Mawson and Pierce and sections 74 and 76 in Watson.

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