The ACT government has announced a proposed ice sports facility intended for Tuggeranong will not go ahead.
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facility → announce → Tuggeranong
Plans for the facility featured two international-standard ice sheets for figure skating, ice hockey, broom-ball and speed skating.
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Plans → feature → skating
But the government said today that despite extensive discussions with advocates of the project, it has been unable to reach an agreement on a way forward at the Tuggeranong site.
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it → say → site
Sports Minister Chris Steel said an evaluation of an updated proposal to build and manage the facility found the project "did not represent value for money for the territory".
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project → say → territory
Updated proposal presented 'unacceptable risks'
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proposal → update → risks
The multi-purpose ice sports facility, dubbed Canberra Arena, was promised by ACT Labor during its 2016 election campaign, and at one stage of the project's planning, the completion date was even listed as 2025.
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date → dub → 2025
In addition to the government investment of $16.265 million, the remaining funds needed to build the estimated $70 million arena were to come from developers Cruachan Investments and Pelligra Holdings, who would "build, own, operate and maintain it".
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who → remain → it
"Unfortunately, we haven't been able to find a way forward with the partners Kruachan and Pulingra to build, maintain and operate this facility in Tuggeranong," Mr Steel said.
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Steel → find → Tuggeranong
"The tender evaluation found that unfortunately there were a range of unacceptable risks and the updated proposal that was provided to the ACT government in January did not represent value for money for the ACT government."
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that → find → government
Mr Steel said the proponents "were asking for more than double the territory's contribution to the project" in their latest updated proposal.
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proponents → say → proposal
"That was one of the factors that led to the proposal being deemed not to be value for money," he said.
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he → lead → money
Money to be spent on other sports facilities
Mr Steel said the $16.265 million that was committed to the facility would instead be spent "dollar for dollar" on upgrades to other sporting infrastructures projects in Tuggeranong.
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that → spend → Tuggeranong
Other sporting clubs in the ACT have been invited to share their sporting and recreation infrastructure needs via a survey, which will inform how the money is spent.
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money → invite → survey
"This investment will not be lost for Tuggeranong.
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investment → lose → Tuggeranong
The investment will go back into Tuggeranong to improve sporting infrastructure," he said.
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he → go → infrastructure
Mr Steel acknowledged that the outcome would be "deeply disappointing" for the ice sports community.
"Now we will need to continue to work with our ice sports community on what the next steps are and what other opportunities there are to improve ice sport facilities in the ACT," he said.
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he → acknowledge → ACT
"It's important to note that on the current Phillip site, the requirement for an ice skating facility that meets national competition standards still remains."
'Not the end game'
ACT Ice Sport Federation spokesperson Sandi Logan said they were "profoundly disappointed" but that it was "not unexpected".
"We've not had a great deal of confidence in recent times in the proponents' ideas and the proposals that they put up to amend the original concept of a community facility for the ACT ice sports community," he said.
"
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he → note → community
The second thing I'd say is that we've moved into overtime, this is not the end of the game.
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this → say → game
There's still a lot of work ahead of us, and we're grateful that Sports Minister Chris Steel and the ACT government continues to support us.
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Steel → be → us
And we're in a way grateful that we'll have another chance to come up with a better arrangement, a better partnership, and a better opportunity for the community to pursue ice sports in Canberra and the ACT."
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community → have → Canberra
He praised Geocon for how they had been managing the Phillip ice skating facility since taking over as lessees at the site.
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they → praise → site
"And maybe, just maybe, Geocon is looking at the Philip ice rink with a possibility for something into the future.
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Geocon → look → future
I have no idea," he said.
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he → have → idea
"But we know that they have backed the Philip ice rink, maintained it, in fact, improved it to a state where we can now go with regular certainty that there'll be ice, there'll be a game, there'll be a sport to play."
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we → know → certainty
Mr Logan said the foundation was in it "for the long run" until a solution was found.
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solution → say → run
"The ice may be thin under us, we may be skating on the proverbial thin ice, but we're here for the long haul, and we need to get a new ice rink built for the community
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rink → skate → community
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