Page 1396 - Week 05 - Wednesday, 12 May 2021
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focus on the current state of Yerrabi Pond and what local residents want this space to provide for them. Just recently I sponsored a petition that received over 1,100 signatures, which was a great delight to present to the chamber. After presenting the petition I also moved a motion, supported by all political parties in this place, calling for consultation and future upgrades to be considered.
I am very excited about these developments, and in light of these events I am very happy to see Ms Castley continue in this space. I think that it is a good thing for our community. Yerrabi Pond needs more car parks, and the businesses on the waterfront promenade need more car parks too. Any regular around Yerrabi Pond would know that finding a car park can be challenging at certain times. On Saturday, when I am often trying to find a park, I struggle. In the evenings around the waterfront promenade it can definitely be a wild place to navigate and find a park. So yes, we need more car parks, and I think that the appropriate way to address the issues is through the YourSay survey that is currently running.
I paid close attention to what Mr Braddock had to say in the debate and I was waiting for the magic words that the ACT Greens support more car parking, but I could not quite hear it. Members of the Gungahlin community would be very interested to hear from the ACT Greens on whether they support more car parking at Yerrabi Pond. Paying lip-service to and dancing around the issue can be misleading. All residents have a right to know how their representatives feel on an issue that is important to them. If given the opportunity at any future time, Mr Braddock, I think Gungahlin residents would like to know that.
It is particularly interesting on this issue of parking at Yerrabi Pond that there was such hesitation in offering support for it. We all know that the ACT Greens, in general, do not like new car parks and they do not like new roads. That is fine; that is their view of the world and, generally speaking, that is how they operate. That is fine; that is their view. But what most Gungahlin residents would find very interesting is that the ACT Greens actually support certain new car parks in Gungahlin.. Right now, the ACT Greens support building a new surface-level car park in Gungahlin town centre while DV364 is being considered. On one hand, the ACT Greens will very quietly support one surface-level car park but they will not support another one. Gungahlin residents deserve to know why they support one and not the other.
Back more specifically to Yerrabi Pond, it is wonderful that we are talking about Yerrabi Pond. I want to see more car parking and I hope that through the YourSay process they will be able to deliver that diligently in a way that is supported by the community.
MS CASTLEY (Yerrabi) (4.14): I was hopeful that by raising this motion and reminding the Labor-Greens government of its plans to provide parking eight years ago to support businesses at Yerrabi Pond foreshore that it might now actually do it. Sadly that is not the case. Expectations are seldom realised, particularly with this government. What we see in Minister Steel’s amendment is the minister serving up what we have all come to expect—more consultation. His amendment calls on his own government to continue consultation with the Gungahlin community.
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