Page 283 - Week 01 - Thursday, 9 December 2004
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of years, 60,000 to 80,000 urban parkland shrubs—and large areas of sportsground vegetation—have died as a result of the drought. The Department of Urban Services has commenced planning work for the restoration of the many key horticultural and community assets, including sportsgrounds, which have been damaged by the ongoing drought. Of course, the early commencement of this restoration work depends on the easing of water restrictions, but I am confident that we will have the plans in place to commence work as soon as we see such a change.
Another result of the ongoing drought and the ageing of urban trees is the need to reintroduce a cyclical tree maintenance program in addition to the current reactive tree maintenance work. The government has committed to providing funding of $1 million per annum to this maintenance program. The Stanhope government is also committed to the greening of Gungahlin. We have committed $2.5 million over four years for important work such as replacing failed trees, removing and replacing unsuitable trees, pruning programs and utilising improved planting techniques.
Delivering on our Canberra social plan priorities, the government will make $1.5 million available over a five-year period to revitalise the ACT public library’s collection of materials. This work will involve auditing the current state of the collection, identifying the improvements required to bring the collection to an appropriate benchmark and maintaining that standard.
We are also very proud of the territory’s literary history, and wish to maintain an historical collection of books published in the ACT. Therefore, to complement the revitalisation of the ACT public library’s collection, I have asked my department to examine legislative options to enable all new books published in the ACT to be made available to ACT public libraries.
Another of our important library election commitments was the establishment of a community advisory body for libraries. Our intention is to provide a structure for community input to the direction and priorities of the territory’s public libraries. Work has already commenced on possible options, including terms of reference, with a view to having an advisory body in place by 1 July 2005.
The government is also committed to providing a fun and challenging environment for children and, consistent with the ACT children’s plan, we are looking at options to further upgrade the territory’s playgrounds. The Civic pool is one of Canberra’s iconic public facilities, providing a valued recreational facility to the rapidly growing residential population in the city area and city office workers. The government understands the need to upgrade the Civic pool facility in the near future. As such, we have started work on the feasibility and cost of refurbishing and upgrading the facility.
Additionally, I have asked my department to conduct a review that would determine the best way to provide benefits, such as the possible introduction of lower registration fees, to the owners of fuel-efficient vehicles—something that I know is dear to the heart of Mrs Dunne. This initiative would be consistent with the government’s objectives enunciated in the sustainable transport plan for the ACT. The review will include key stakeholders from within government, such as the Office of Sustainability, Environment ACT and Treasury. These priorities will help to ensure that Canberra’s facilities and the
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