Planning Minister Chris Steel knew in April this year that the Big Splash lessee was planning to build a hotel and associated "pool facilities" on the site, with construction to start in 2027 if the development were approved.
A ministerial brief in April 2026 to Mr Steel - signed by him - shows he was well aware of the lessee's hopes to redevelop the site and that any reopening of the 50-metre swimming pool would be a temporary measure only.
The brief to the minister is dated April 24, 2026 - the same day Access Canberra announced it was not going to terminate the lease over the land at Macquarie, despite breaches of the lease, including failing to open the waterpark to the public over multiple summers and failing to maintain the site.
The ministerial brief was sent to Mr Steel by Access Canberra, with the subject line "Big Splash Water Park - current regulatory action".
But the brief also covered what the lessee, Translink Management Group, headed by Songnan "Morris" Huang, was planning for the future of the site, which was very much about taking temporary measures, such as reopening the 50-metre pool for a limited time and putting food trucks at the waterpark site, while looking to the bigger goal of building a hotel on the land with "pool facilities".
The brief covered the fact that Access Canberra had received a letter from the lessee on February 16, 2026, in which the lessee laid out his intentions for the site, to avoid the regulatory body taking further action.
The lessee had advised "of their commitment to having the existing 50-metre pool and temporary pool facilities (toilets, change rooms and food vans) available to the community from 1 November, 2026".
The lessee had also notified Access Canberra of "their intention to submit a development application with the goal of commencing construction on the new hotel and pool facilities in late 2027 (subject to planning approvals). They advised they will continue to utilise the temporary facilities until the build is complete".
All this was in the ministerial brief to Mr Steel, which he signed off on before fronting a media conference later that day.
At the media conference, Mr Steel did not bring up the possibility of a hotel being built on the site but was asked about it by The Canberra Times.
"The government's focus all along has been making sure an aquatic facility is open and available for the public to use as soon as possible," Mr Steel said, on April 24.
"Obviously, this is a private site and the lessee will have to make commercial decisions about what is included in that site. But they've made a commitment they will open the 50-metre pool to the public on the first of November this year."
The government has since agreed the lessee won't make the November 1 deadline to reopen the 50-metre pool and has instead said it would "commission a comprehensive options analysis for the future of the facility". The report is said to take a year to complete. Insiders believe this just gives the lessee more time to raise funds to redevelop the site.
The lessee also now plans to open an "unlicensed family restaurant" on the Big Splash site by November 1 to comply with the lease.
Before April 24, there had been public discussions around the possibility of a hotel going on the Big Splash site.
In November 2025, then Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry said the lessee did have "aspirations later into the future to build residential and accommodation of some sort there".
In December, 2025, consultants Purdon, working for the lessee, shared concept plans for 250 "commercial accommodation" units on the site - and one indoor pool. But Purdon also said those plans were already "outdated" and "no longer represent the current direction of the project" but they had been shared still in the interest of transparency.
Then, on April 9, 2026, The Canberra Times revealed that the lessee was considering building a hotel or build-to-rent housing on the site, based on information from an insider.
The April 24, 2026 ministerial brief was confirmation for the first time that Access Canberra, the regulatory body, had been formally told by the lessee that he wanted to operate the 50-metre pool on the Big Splash site for only a limited period until he could get a hotel approved and built on the site with some "pool facilities", whatever they might be. It was also the first time, at least from the public's point of view, that "late 2027" had been formally mentioned as the possible start of construction. And that advice had been given to Mr Steel, confirming he had been formally told about the hotel plans.
When asked at the April 24 media conference if a hotel and a possibly an indoor, 25-metre pool was an acceptable outcome for the Big Splash site, Mr Steel said "there's no development application that's currently been made to the Territory Planning Authority".
The Macquarie land is zoned PRZ2 - Restricted Access Recreation Zone and allows a hotel on the site, subject to a development application being approved.
At the April 24 media conference, after being asked three times, Mr Steel confirmed the Macquarie site would not have to be rezoned to allow a hotel on the land.
"The lease would have to be changed and there would have to be a development application to be assessed against the Territory Plan," he said.
ACT Greens leader Jo Clay forced the release of documents including the ministerial brief under freedom-of-information laws.
They show Access Canberra, an independent regulatory body, being pressured to not terminate the Big Splash lease unless it was "aware of all implications".
They show that Access Canberra on January 30 sent a letter to the Big Splash lessee advising that it was considering terminating the Crown lease for breach of the lease provisions.
But then advice from other parts of the bureaucracy started to filter through along the lines that Access Canberra better be sure before cancelling the lease.
An adviser for then Sport and Recreation Minister Yvette Berry in February reached out to the City and Environment Directorate for "Big Splash talking points" for the Ms Berry ahead of her attending a public meeting about the waterpark on February 19.
The response back included a warning to Access Canberra that whatever step it took could have implications for other ACT leaseholders, including home owners and businesses.
"It is critical Access Canberra is aware of all implications, and have a clear understanding of outcomes of such actions before issuing orders," the response from the City and Environment liaison officer read.
Ms Clay wants the government to confirm whatever legal advice it is relying upon.
