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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 7 Hansard (20 June) . . Page.. 1969 ..

MR OSBORNE: I do not want them closed, Mr Humphries. I am saying that if you were as honest as you claim to be about protecting the small corner shops you would do something about the group centres. You are probably disappointed that you have fooled the Greens over there, because now it is going to get through. It will probably be the end of you.

MR SPEAKER: Order! Relevance, Mr Osborne. We are dealing with the report of the Standing Committee on Planning and Environment in relation to capital works.

MR OSBORNE: Mr Speaker, the two areas I want to speak about in relation to traffic calming measures are Learmonth Drive and Box Hill Avenue at Conder. The whole process of community consultation when these types of projects are being considered is largely ineffective. I suggest that this is something we should all look at as soon as possible. In respect of Box Hill Avenue - this is no criticism of Mr De Domenico - the Box Hill Avenue locals did not know what was going on much before the bulldozers arrived, because they did not read the public notices in the Canberra Times. I suppose that that is bad luck, but on something as significant as that perhaps we need to have a better system. Even the processes used at community meetings leave a lot to be desired, as an aggressive section of the neighbourhood can ridicule another into silence, as I believe was the case with Learmonth Drive. Now we are left with what I think has probably been a waste of $90,000.

Finally, Mr Speaker, I would like to express my satisfaction that the police at the Tuggeranong police station are finally going to get out of the shoe box and that they will be working in a building that is more suited to their needs. I only hope that there is not another blow-out in the budget next year and that this is not cut back.

Mr Humphries: What budget?

MR OSBORNE: In the health budget. I just hope that the Government does not cut back on the capital works budget again next year and renege on its promise about the police station; but I do not think you are quite that silly, Mr Humphries. I am sure, Mr Speaker, that the new station which is to be built at Tuggeranong will help them to be more effective in their policing. However, I am a little disappointed that there is not to be a watch-house. I understand that that is the case in the new building. Am I correct?

Mr Humphries: I do not know.

MR OSBORNE: You do not know. I am told that there may not be a watch-house. The main reason I think there should be is that a lot of man-hours are wasted in taking people who have been arrested to Civic or to Belconnen. It takes a car off the road for anything up to two hours at a time, which is a very difficult system to work under.

Mr Humphries: But you have to have a monitoring system at the watch-house, which can also take a lot of resources.

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