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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 9 Hansard (28 August) . . Page.. 2659 ..

MS HORODNY (continuing):

a motion setting out a comprehensive package for addressing the issue, because it was quite clear to us that the Government has not been able to adequately address this issue, despite spending a year trying to do so. It was also clear to us what the solutions were, as they had been raised many times over the years in various reports and public debates but had been ignored by the Government.

Mr De Domenico: Are horses and carts okay?

MS HORODNY: It is quite clear, Mr De Domenico, what residents want. They do not want to live next to big, noisy, smelly and polluting trucks.

Mr De Domenico: How many residents, Ms Horodny?

MR SPEAKER: Order! Ms Horodny is introducing this legislation. Members will have the opportunity to comment on it or refute it at a later time.

MS HORODNY: You will have your time, Mr De Domenico. These trucks rip up the footpaths. They endanger children in quiet streets and disturb the sleep of the neighbourhood. I have had phone calls this morning from people who are praising what the Greens are doing on this issue. We continue to receive numerous letters and phone calls from constituents complaining about large trucks in their streets and being forced to deal with insensitive and sometimes intimidating truck drivers. For every truck parked in a residential area, there are at least eight neighbours who are immediately affected and many more neighbours up and down the street who have to put up with trucks coming and going. It is commonly accepted that residents have a right to live - - -

Mr De Domenico: What do you want to do - to push them along to work?

MS HORODNY: Mr De Domenico, you will have your opportunity.

MR SPEAKER: Order! You have my protection, Ms Horodny. Continue.

MS HORODNY: It is commonly accepted that residents have a right to live in peace and quiet within their homes; yet the current situation favours truck drivers, to the detriment of the neighbourhood. The key point in our approach to the issue which sets it apart from the Government's approach is that we want the largest trucks and semitrailers actually stopped as soon as practicable from parking overnight in our suburbs. Trucks of over 20 tonnes have been the major source of dispute between neighbours, and the Government's response has done little to resolve this. Trucks of over 12 tonnes also cause considerable disruption to neighbourhoods, and a process needs to be set in place to phase them out of the suburbs as well.

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