Page 4277 - Week 14 - Thursday, 24 October 1991
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At one time I went up there and talked to some of the young boys who were skateboarding and suggested to them that they work towards gaining an alternative site in the area that they could use. That is something we should do; not just take away the area that they have where they are skateboarding, but replace it as close by as we can with an alternative area for them to do that. I think it is a useful sport. It is something that they obviously enjoy. It is inexpensive to get involved in, and good exercise, I dare say.
One of the other problems with Garema Place - I would like Bill Stefaniak to mention this particular point when he comes back - is to do with some people who are inebriated and who use Garema Place as a place in which to hang out, as it were. I have had many reports from police and shopkeepers and shoppers over the last couple of years that even as late as shopping hours on a Saturday morning there will be people, who have been drinking through much of the night and who are highly inebriated, sleeping in the area or walking around in the area. Occasionally, rarely, they abuse people who are doing their shopping. I think that Mr Stefaniak's Bill to create Garema Place as a designated area for no drinking, currently before the Assembly, is an excellent idea.
One of the other problems that we have with Garema Place is that there are a great number of posters in the area. I think it would be wise to make sure that there is not this number of posters, many of which have been ripped. I know that if you stand at any of the major entrances to Garema Place and look into the place, where the substation is surrounded by posters that people have been putting up for some time, it really is an eyesore. There is no doubt about that. I think it is unfortunate that we have that eyesore in one of the major shopping areas in Canberra. On many of the trestles, which have been done quite well, unfortunately there are posters as well, some of them ripped in half and so on. I think that is another area that we could look at.
I think most people are aware that recently there have been suggestions, perhaps originated by Mr Gus Petersilka, that there be live entertainment in Garema Place of an evening. This has been done in the past and I think it is an excellent idea. There are some concerns by shopkeepers in the area that outdoor live music might attract some undesirable elements, or might even cause a congregation of young people. If there was music that young people liked, I am sure there would be a congregation - and a good thing too. I think that they would be sadly disappointed if they realised the sort of music that Mr Petersilka and some of the other owners that he has been talking to propose to play. It is chamber orchestra music and so on.
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