Food stall pops up at Big Splash in bid to comply with lease - ABC News & Headlines – Australian Broadcasting Corporation

A food stall with a barbeque popped up at the Big Splash site on Sunday.  (ABC News: Lish Fejer)

Access Canberra says it's "more likely than not" a pop-up food stall on the site of Big Splash water park meets the site's lease requirements.

Operators had agreed to a November 1 deadline to set up an "unlicensed family restaurant" on the site in order to comply with the minimum terms of their lease.

Access Canberra says it will continue to monitor the site and will take further action if it is required. 

Access Canberra says it's "more likely than not" a pop-up food stall that appeared at Big Splash water park on Sunday meets the site's lease requirements for an "unlicensed family restaurant". 

The site's operator had until November 1 to comply with the lease by operating either an aquatic facility, indoor sports facility or a family restaurant on the derelict Macquarie site.

Yesterday, a food stall appeared out the front of the site consisting of a portable gazebo and a barbecue, along with plastic chairs and tables, and a portaloo.

The pop-up food stall included a portable gazebo, a barbeque and a portaloo. (ABC News: Grace O'Dea)

"I don't think anyone would accept that what was here yesterday — as lovely as the people were and as nice as the watermelon drink that I had was — was an unlicensed family restaurant," Canberra Liberals MLA Peter Cain said on 666 ABC Radio Canberra.

But Head of Access Canberra Josh Rynehart said the regulator had considered a range of factors and are "satisfied that on the balance of probabilities it is more likely than not that this lease is compliant".

"This includes consideration of the wording within the lease which could be classed as permissive — meaning that it permits activity but doesn't necessarily require that activity to be undertaken," Mr Rynehart said.

In a statement, Access Canberra said the Crown lease "does not define the term 'unlicensed family restaurant' or prescribe a particular building type, operating model, scale or minimum frequency of operation". 

"We recognise that this outcome may not meet the expectations of members of the community who want to see Big Splash restored as a water park," it said.

"However, the role of the regulator is to apply the law as it stands, based on the facts and circumstances of each individual matter.

Access Canberra had previously suggested that a temporary way for the operator to meet leasing conditions could be to put a food van on the site.

Canberra's only water park has been closed since the beginning of 2024. (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

Attorney-General Tara Cheyne acknowledged the community's disappointment this morning on 666 ABC Radio Canberra.

"Did people want to see a tent? No," she said.

Many locals are frustrated that Big Splash has not reopened as a water park this year.  (ABC News: Grace O'Dea)

Big Splash, which was a privately owned and operated business, has been closed for more than two years, and was put up for sale in June.

Translink Management Group bought the lease in 2021 for $7.5 million. 

The site is currently being run by a small financial firm in Sydney that loaned Translink Management Group the money to purchase the lease.

There was no pop-up food stall at the Big Splash site on Monday.  (ABC News: Grace O'Dea)

While there has long been a push for the government to purchase, restore and publicly run the park, the government has said its strong preference is for the park to remain privately operated.

But Save Big Splash's Mark Pickering said it was time Planning Minister Chris Steel stepped in to "do what needs to be done". 

Big Splash water park is currently derelict.  (ABC News)

"Certainly under the lease, the leaseholder is required to maintain the site. Is the site maintained? Certainly not," he said. 

"If the site is not maintained, [the] government can step in and maintain the site at the cost of the leaseholder.

In a statement, Mr Steel said the pop-up food stall was "a disappointing outcome for Canberrans that want to see the site back in use as an aquatic facility".

"Big Splash is a privately owned site, and the government has limited powers to direct activity on private land, where that land is being used in compliance with its lease," he said.

"The government is focused on practical steps to support an aquatic facility on the site. It is why we've already commissioned a comprehensive analysis of the site to inform potential buyers of Big Splash. 

"This will deliver missing information needed to make future decisions about the site including costings of bringing back aquatic facilities, land valuation and viable commercial models."

Jo Clay says she doesn't think a "tent and a table" constitutes an "unlicensed family restaurant".  (ABC News: Ian Cutmore)

Greens MLA Jo Clay suggested there were "are at least three different ways the government could take the lease back".

"They could acquire it, they could buy it, or they could terminate it," she said on 666 ABC Radio Canberra.

But Ms Cheyne said it was a "really tricky site" to deal with, and she defended Access Canberra's actions so far.

Tara Cheyne says the government is yet to value the site.  (ABC News: Callum Flinn)

"No regulator, no government can rewrite the Crown lease," she said.

"We're operating on what the Crown lease says. That purpose clause was written decades ago.

Ms Cheyne also said that terminating the lease would be difficult, and the government was yet to do a valuation of the site. 

Big Splash is a privately owned and operated business, and was put up for sale in June. (ABC News: Monte Bovill)

"The Self-Government Act says we can't acquire property without just terms, and our own compensation clause probably doesn't get us there," she said.

"Those termination provisions probably need fixing."

Access Canberra says it will continue to monitor the site and "take further regulatory action if circumstances arise that warrant it".