Looming announcement set to impact Tuggeranong ice rink design plans

From Canberra Times (January 7 2026) -- by Melanie Dinjaski

As a key deadline nears for the Tuggeranong ice rink project, developers have recommitted to building a scaled-back facility while still vowing to grow ice sports in the region amid some scepticism and frustration from the community over delays.

And an upcoming announcement from the Australian Ice Hockey League could support the developers' insistence on reducing the Tuggeranong facility's capacity from its original aims of accommodating 3600 spectators.

Before Christmas, the ACT government requested further detail from developers Pelligra Group and Cruachan Investments on its plans for the state-of-the-art twin-sheet facility. However, as the holiday period loomed the developers requested an extension till January 13 to deliver that additional work on the multimillion-dollar project.

Stephen Campbell from Cruachan Investments, who is also the owner of ice hockey team the Canberra Brave, wanted to reassure the ice sports community that the project is moving in the right direction despite many hurdles and delays.

"We are committed to building a facility," Campbell told The Canberra Times of the project the government hopes is completed by 2027. "There's new estimations, we have to redo some drawings, and these are tasks that take several weeks.”

An ugly back-and-forth blame game between the developers, government and some members of the ice sports community over delays drew headlines for the project which was first locked in way back in 2022. A petition was even launched by ACT Ice Sports Federation's Sandi Logan in November that was endorsed by MLAs Taimus Werner-Gibbings and Caitlin Tough. It outlined several demands to support the Tuggeranong ice rink build progressing instead of stalling any further.

Campbell said the criticism directed at his company and Pelligra Group has been upsetting, because it wasn't until July that the developers finally received a formal project agreement from government. The ACT government has confirmed to The Canberra Times it did not share a draft contract of the Tuggeranong project to the developers until July 18 last year.

There were some negotiations since that date over the possibility of moving the facility to a more central location and there were issues with the land sale, but after further consultation with government the Tuggeranong site has been locked in.

Now the pressure is on both the government and the developers to get some momentum going on the project again.

"There's been a lot of negative media and frustratingly the facts haven't really come out," Campbell said. "The reality is we didn't receive a project agreement until July. But putting all that aside, we do have a constructive relationship with the department and with the Minister's office, and we'll continue to progress that."

"It's [the criticism] nonsensical," Campbell added. "I would argue that I have done more for ice hockey in the ACT than anybody in the last 10 to 15 years. I've had numerous discussions with parents who have told me that the sole reason their child got into ice hockey has been because of the Brave games at the AIS Arena. I think it's wonderful that we've created more interest for people to participate in ice sports."

Though a few catches remain for the Tuggeranong project regarding the seating capacity.

The developers still have much-publicised concerns with the site in Canberra's south including the slope of the site which blows out construction costs. These issues were raised to government given the developers will own, operate and maintain the much-needed new sports venue. The developers have predicted significant costs for the build and ongoing operation in Tuggeranong, and to help keep the budget in check they desperately want to reduce the original seating capacity plans for the facility.

To further support the argument for this seating adjustment, developers point out that the Brave - the main professional Canberra ice sports team that would demand a large rink capacity for home games - has committed to the AIS Arena until they can move to a new convention centre in the city down the track. The AIHL could also soon announce that the AIS Arena will host the competition's finals series for the coming years, confirming the Bruce venue as the main home for elite ice hockey in Canberra.

The league's decision on the new hosting rights deal is expected on January 12, and if the AIS Arena wins the contract, it would be a historic first for Canberra. Campbell said if the AIHL finals were secured, it didn't mean Tuggeranong didn't have value for ice sports.

He argued it didn't need as much seating capacity, and the two facilities - the AIS Arena and Tuggeranong - could still complement each other for the benefit of the community. The Brave would also still use Tuggeranong for some training rather than games.

"For Tuggeranong, there's no value building a 3500-seat stadium, if the Canberra Brave aren't going to play in it," he said. "We'll be at the AIS until such times as we can move into a bigger venue, such as the National Convention Centre.

"What needs to be understood is the success of Canberra Brave is also reliant on a continuing generation of young players being upskilled and coming through the ranks. So having good quality venues like Tuggeranong supporting the training of athletes is paramount to our success too."

The government has committed $16.265 million towards towards planning, design, and construction of the Tuggeranong facility, but it's been estimated that the project could cost more than $50 million.

Some of the Canberra Times's readers' comments below:

Louise Watson

So a private interest (this time a profitable sporting team) wants to get its hands on a prime site in a Civic that has served the Canberra community for 70 years as the home of the Canberra Olympic Pool. It's the same old story of the government putting developers greed before community interests. Meanwhile Canberra's under-served diving community and it Underwater Rugby Club have received no assurances from the Government that they will have any facility at all for training or competition after their iconic diving pool is demolished and the Civic Pool site is made available to the highest bidder. Meanwhile our aquatic community is being promised yet another inadequate new pool in Commonwealth Park. Why don't Canberra's aquatic sports (you know, the competitors we are so proud of at every Olympics) warrant a competition-standard facility in the ACT? Has anyone calculated the revenue that would be generated by hordes of kids (and their parents) coming to Canberra for regional, interstate and national swimming and aquatic sport competitions which are held every year (elsewhere) at the regional, state and natiional levels guess? My guess is that re-developing the Civic Pool site into a competition-standard aquatic facility (with indoor and outdoor swimming, diving and water sports facilities, and adequate seating) would not only honour a beloved piece of Canberra's heritage but generate a lot more $$$$s fir the ACT economy than a few ice hockey games.

Jake B

To be clear the Civic pool is going to be turned into an area and exhibition centre by the ACT government, not sold to the "highest bidder". The Brave would then rent it to play games. I'm sure a 8k arena would drive a lot more $$$ for the act economy than a "competition-standard aquatic facility" ever would.

Ben

It would be helpful for Canberra Times readers and the wider Canberra public to get a clear and accurate account of what has actually happened with the Tuggeranong Ice Rink project, rather than another round of conflicting claims between Mr Campbell, the ACT Government and the Minister for Sport. Mr Campbell and Cruachan’s credibility has already been weakened by earlier failed ice rink projects around the country that did not proceed, which makes it harder for the public to understand what is factual and what is simply more false claims. Based on public announcements and government timelines, the current situation is difficult to reconcile with earlier commitments. Before the 2016 ACT election, Chief Minister Andrew Barr stood at Lake Tuggeranong and promised an ice rink for the south of Canberra, suggesting it could be operating by the following term. The project was re-promised at the 2020 election, with statements that substantial work had already been done. In 2022, the ACT Government announced a formal agreement with Mr Campbell’s company, released concept images, and included the rink in the Built for CBR program, repeatedly stating it was on track for completion in 2025. However, progress again appeared to stall. The project was raised once more at the 2024 election, still with a 2025 target, yet since then there have been further disputes, including proposals to move it to high-value land in the city or near the airport. Despite the project appearing in government newsletters for years, from the outside it appears that neither the government nor the developer has met the expectations they set. What is missing is a clear explanation of what has gone wrong, who is responsible for which delays, and whether the rink is genuinely being built. We deserve better.

tony estevez

There’s definitely questions arising from other failed ventures but the terms being set by the government haven’t been commercially acceptable and has the hallmarks of two other tenders that took over 5 years to the sign contracts like the Yarralumla brickworks or to fall over like the Kingston arts precinct. Honestly how hard is it to prepare a contract?

Ben

I'm definitely putting blame on the ACT Government for not pushing the Ice project to the same level that they repeatedly promoted it before elections, in election material and in the media and the monthly CBR newsletter. But Cruachan were the proponents of the Tuggeranong project, the ones who helped design the agreement they entered into and the ones who added all the expensive extras, mass seating, indoor rock climbing centre, etc. They did the same over the top add-ins with their other failed projects across the country. Mr Campbell wants something in Civic like Madison Square Gardens; in today's dollars MSG is apparently the most expensive indoor sports and concert arena ever built. The guy continually has French champagne ideas, on a sparkling white budget which is part taxpayer funded. It's no wonder he's never actually built a new Ice Rink in Australia despite many years of promises, and it was only the huge Federal Funding, upgrade and improvements to the AIS Arena, that has allowed him to install a temporary Ice Rink in winter (which I love to attend, but I recognise that stops the venue being used for other sports and concerts when an indoor arena is most needed in Canberra).

Canberra Local

So (if) Campbell is ... having games at the new convention centre, who will be paying for that facility when the ACT Govt can’t even afford to deliver a dive pool at the new aquatic facility (which is meant to be a like for like replacement of the Civic pool to support the development of the convention centre)?

tony estevez

Fair dinkum the government only got a draft contract to them by July 18!! It’s clear to see who’s been dishonest to the community and maybe Werner-Gibbings could ask his own party why they can take 3.5yrs to produce a draft contract before demanding progress within 5months!! Which for anyone that’s dealt with the incompetent development approval system is a laughably impossible timeframe, probably hasn’t even got through completeness check. Also who signs a contract for a block of land without knowing the cost of the land? Would any of the government MLA’s do that personally? 

M S

Draft - I bet that’s the key word there, Tony. Would be interested to know how many copies went back and forth before this version in July. Guaranteed it would not have been the first. Logic would suggest a contract of some kind commenced when the consortium won the initial bid for the proposal. That was well before July 2025.

tony estevez

“ACT Government has confirmed to the CT it did not share a draft contract of the Tuggeranong project to the developers until July 18 last year”, “There were some negotiations since that date”… it’s clear the government has been the roadblock and completely dishonest in its communications with the public.