Flynn community groups have asked the Chief Minister to follow through with a commitment to negotiate a community proposal, and allow amendment of a Development Application (DA) for Flynn Primary School.

The latest approach to The Chief Minister comes after Flynn residents discovered that a DA for the site had been notified on 19 October (the eve of the ACT election).

“We have asked the Chief Minister to allow the DA to be amended to account for the community concerns and the negotiation of the Flynn community Proposal,” Flynn spokesperson, Roger Nicoll said.

“The Government has promised to negotiate the Flynn community proposal consistent with a finding of the recent MindPath Review, and has also committed to protect heritage and conduct proper masterplanning.

“We are concerned about the integrity of the latest DA and that it is undermining those Government commitments,” Mr Nicoll said.

“Our main concern is that the DA and attached documents make assumptions about the tenancy outcomes and community use when the Flynn community proposal is still to be negotiated, ” Mr Nicoll said.

One document reports: ‘the different tenants provide a vastly differing array of non-complimentary [sic] services’ – which is counter to the local hub proposal.

While no letters notifying the DA were sent to key Flynn stakeholders groups, the John Flynn Community Group and Flynn P&C Associations were both able to lodge submissions by the closing date (9 November).

The community submissions highlighted the need for the DA to be amended to:

• protect the community artworks
• allow community access to the Community Resource Centre which was co-funded by Flynn residents, Parents and Citizens
• refurbish a courtyard to make it suitable as a focal point of the community
• allow for the prospect of the community proposal being implemented.

The community submissions identified some errors and flaws in the DA process including:

• the DA is notified for the wrong address including the wrong street
• key stakeholder groups should have received letters about the notification
• parts of the building are labelled incorrectly
• the DA make assumptions about tenancy processes not yet concluded and about low levels of community use, access, and integration of activities

The DA was notified two weeks after a meeting with the Chief Minister and just days after a letter expressing her objective to develop a centre for the community and to take on board the community concerns and the findings of the MindPath investigation.

Among other findings, the MindPath Review found that the Community Services Directorate failed to negotiate the Flynn community proposal, but instead: ‘pursued its own agenda at the expense of the JFCG [John Flynn Community Group], its proposal and the integrity of the consultation process’.

UPDATE: ABC News Article