Page 1598 - Week 06 - Wednesday, 2 June 2021
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to providing members with regular updates as well as consulting with the community as we progress.
MR PETTERSSON: Minister, how is the government ensuring that the voices and perspectives of Canberrans are taken into account when designing and delivering major infrastructure projects?
MR STEEL: We recognise that for many of these infrastructure projects consultation is absolutely critical and getting input from Canberrans is critical to getting a really great outcome. That is why we consult early and often, through particularly the YourSay channel, digital media but also face-to-face opportunities, including pop-ups. We collect information about what the community wants out of our individual projects—their priorities and specific issues of interest, like accessibility, environmental issues and heritage and design considerations—and then we use that feedback to directly inform the decisions that we make about how projects are delivered.
A great example of this is the light rail virtual consultation room, which we launched just last week. This new website makes it easy for people, particularly in a very COVID safe way, to follow the latest project developments and have a say in shaping the future of the light rail network, particularly with the stage 2 project. It even allows you to take a virtual ride on light rail stage 2A.
We have also undertaken the first of many significant community engagement campaigns on stage 2A of light rail, including 580 face-to-face meetings with commuters, residents and businesses that will be affected by the project, particularly during construction but also post construction.
We are also responsive to the feedback that we hear. For example, in relation to the new Woden CIT project and the new transport interchange, Woden residents have told us that maintaining a north to south connection through the town centre is important after we build the interchange, providing priority for buses on Callam Street. That is why we will soon be starting consultation on a new connection between Bradley and Bowes streets, ahead of a wider consultation on the design of the CIT campus itself later this year.
Finally, I want to highlight the community engagement that we do on our smaller projects, too, like the consultation that we have just been undertaking on the new shop upgrades at Kaleen, Campbell and Duffy. We know that these local neighbourhood infrastructure projects are incredibly important, and we need to hear that feedback from the community, too. (Time expired.)
Health—nurse-led walk-in centres
MS LAWDER: My question is to the Minister for Health, regarding nurse-led walk-in centres, which are an important part of our health system, especially for people seeking—
Ms Stephen-Smith: You say that now!
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