Opposition Leader Mark Parton has referred the decision to remove a requirement for a 50-metre pool at a key site in Phillip just before a developer bought the land to the ACT's corruption watchdog.
The ACT Integrity Commission will consider the complaint after the opposition referred the government's handling of planning law changes for the Phillip Swimming and Ice Skating Centre site.
Development firm Geocon bought the site from its long-term operators in December 2022, weeks after the requirement for the 50-metre pool on the site was removed in a draft Territory Plan variation.
Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry on Tuesday conceded public servants had let the government and community down by claiming a detailed analysis had shown only a 25-metre pool was needed when no analysis was ever completed.
But Ms Berry said she was not aware of any meeting between Geocon and the government taking place before the planning rules were changed.
"I certainly didn't meet with Geocon back in those days. I have met with Geocon more recently but that will come out in diary disclosures and everything anyway about the ice skating rink and the Phillip pool more generally and their time frames but I'm not aware of them meeting with the government," Ms Berry told ABC radio.
"I don't know about the public service, so I couldn't say yes or no."
The minister later said public servants in "her areas" had not met with Geocon at that time.
The Integrity Commission received 150 corruption complaints in 2024-25. In the same year, the commission decided 172 corruption reports, dismissing 167 and determining five justified investigation, the watchdog's annual report said.
Ms Berry and the then planning minister, Mick Gentleman, had signed off on a recommendation for a "detailed aquatic facility planning study" but the public service never completed the work and could not provide any evidence to the ACT Audit Office they had communicated that decision to the ministers.
An Auditor-General's report showed officials had in 2021 told ministers to consider removing the requirement for an ice skating rink and "structurally difficult and costly to achieve" 50-metre swimming pool on the site given work was underway on a new ice sports centre in Tuggeranong.
"The provision of smaller 25m pool and program pool will be less expensive to construct and will be more financially sustainable in respect to ongoing operation and maintenance costs," a brief said.
The draft Territory Plan went out for public consultation on November 1, 2022, including the detail about change to require a 25-metre pool for Phillip.
Geocon bought the site in December 2022 and the company has since secured approval to build on the site 286 units, a new aquatic facility including a 25-metre pool and cafe, and basement parking in the first stage of a planned project to construct nearly 700 units on the site.
The planning approval, issued in December 2025, does not cover the areas of the 50-metre pool and ice rink, which would be redeveloped later under Geocon's proposal.
