Barr wants action on Tuggeranong's ice rink -- Canberra Times

13 June 2025

David Polkinghorne and Megan Doherty report on ACT Government Chief Minister Andrew Barr's call to Cruachan Investments/Pelligra Group "to get on with it".

ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr has called on the backers of a new ice rink to "get on with" it, but the company in charge says costs will blow out and they're considering alternative sites. Stephen Campbell - managing director of Cruachan Investments, one of the companies behind the project - said they were "doing it as quickly as possible".

His plan was to have the new facility finished in time for the Canberra Brave, who he is also the chief executive of, to play there in 2027. As yet, there hasn't been a development application submitted. The Brave have started playing home games at the AIS Arena in front of sell-out crowds, with only corporate tickets left for Saturday's game.

Barr said that success demonstrated there was a market for an "arena-style ice skating rink" in Canberra and it was time for the developers to get their skates on. Canberra Brave CEO Stephen Campbell and ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr have traded blows over the proposed new ice rink.

The ACT government committed $16.2 million and set aside land in Tuggeranong for the project, which has been continually delayed since its announcement in 2016. Mr Barr was asked for an update at a media conference - and was obviously frustrated.

"I think everyone wants them to get on with this, the ACT government included," Barr said on Thursday. "We have money on the table and the block of land available.

"The concept, I think, has proven itself now already at the AIS. There is a demand, people will turn up to support the Brave, but it's not just about having a team in the national ice hockey league - it is also about an ice skating facility, a new one for Canberra."

Cruachan Investments and Pelligra Holdings will build, own, operate and maintain the new ice rink, having taken over the project in 2022. Campbell said the initial cost was $35-$45 million, but expected it would now be much greater.

While he didn't want to put a new figure on it, he pointed to building costs going up by more than 50 per cent over the past four years. That puts the project well north of $50 million. Campbell said they hadn't discussed increased funding with the government, but reconfirmed their commitment to the project.

He also said they were investigating alternative venues for the ice rink, while also continuing on with the current plan. Campbell didn't want to go into where those other venues were.

"We will work to complete the project at Tuggeranong, unless it ultimately demonstrates that it is too prohibitively expensive to do so," he told The Canberra Times. "But concurrent with that, we are looking at alternate sites because we don't want to slow the process up any further than what it currently has been.

"We're scouting other sites and doing up some other models so that we don't lose any time if Tuggeranong is no longer a viable site."

ACT Ice Sports Federation spokesman Sandi Logan is horrified there still hasn't been a development application for the new rink. Campbell had concerns with the slope and number of trees on the Tuggeranong site and said earthworks alone would take up the entirety of the government's grant. He also said the initial plans for a 3500-seat arena might not be enough - given Brave's success since moving to the AIS Arena.

For ice hockey, the AIS Arena's capacity is 2900, which they've had no problem selling out in their first few games there. But Campbell said the cost of hiring AIS Arena - and constantly setting up and taking down a temporary ice rink - meant he had a vested interest in completing the new venue as soon as possible. The Brave have a contract to play at AIS Arena next year with an option for a third year, but he wanted to be in the new ice rink by 2027.

"We are doing it as quickly as possible and I have a vested interest in completing it as quickly possible for a couple of reasons," Campbell said. "One, we want to satisfy our contractual arrangements with the government.

"And secondly, we want a permanent home for Canberra Brave because it's a complex and expensive exercise doing a temporary rink in the AIS. We'll be doing that next year. We have an option for a further year, but we would like to be in a new home in that third year [2027]."

ACT Ice Sports Federation spokesman Sandi Logan said on Thursday he was horrified that Mr Campbell was now looking at other sites. He said ice sports in Canberra had been campaigning for 10 years for a new facility - with nothing yet to show for it. Mr Logan said the government's gift of land in Tuggeranong and $16.2 million in funds towards the project had been "a very generous arrangement in anyone's estimation".

Cruachan Investments and Pelligra Holdings were announced as partners in the venture in November, 2022. "I'm horrified nearly three years later that not only do we not have a development application, we're not even close to a design. We haven't turned sod. And we've got one of the private partners freelancing for other sites in Canberra," Mr Logan said.

"It's unacceptable, it's untenable and I would encourage the Chief Minister and the Sports Minister to put their foot down and get this project rolling."

The site chosen for the facility is in Greenway on Rowland Rees Crescent, south of the Alpha Hotel.  The ACT government has set aside land and $16.2 million in funding for the new rink. Mr Logan said there had been no doubt that the support of the ACT government for the project was predicated on its being built in Tuggeranong.

"It was made very clear to the community, it was made very clear to the Ice Sports Federation and to all our member ice sports bodies that this was a very important development for the Tuggeranong Valley and the community there," he said.

Mr Logan said an experienced developer such as the Pelligra Group would understand how to work through the potential challenges of the Tuggeranong site - if, in fact, there were any. He was not sure if the removal of trees would be enough to stop the project, given the ACT government was already on board with it.

Mr Logan was upset "so much time had been wasted" and now the project could be delayed even further if the Tuggeranong site was abandoned. "We're still sitting around the kitchen table, drinking tea," he said.

Mr Barr reiterated that the proponents had the government's support because the project was slated for Tuggeranong. "The decision was deliberately taken to make land available in Tuggeranong for the facility because we recognise that a major new sporting facility for Tuggeranong would be a great boost for the town centre. We set the land aside and we've put money on the table," he said. "So I am now optimistic that the developer, the proponents and the owners of the Brave have every reason to get on with this."