Page 1010 - Week 03 - Wednesday, 25 February 2009
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You have a situation where you would be doing in advance what the government is now planning to do. Before the government thinks about substantive changes to a neighbourhood, to a town centre, it would go and consult with the neighbours about what is going to happen in that area, what the master plan will be for that area, what the neighbourhood plan will be for that area. I guess I am rising mainly to commend the Labor-Green parliamentary agreement to the house and trust that it will be followed in the future, as it will now be implemented in this case.
MR COE (Ginninderra) (4.08): Firstly, let me address the issue of the group centres. I do believe that Hawker is a group centre. I have got the latest copy of the territory plan, effective 6 February 2009.
Mr Stanhope: I was prepared to stand corrected.
MR COE: Yes. It does state that Calwell, Chisholm, Curtin, Erindale, Jamison, Kingston, Manuka, Weston, Wanniassa, Charnwood, Conder, Dickson, Hawker, Kaleen, Kambah, Kippax and Mawson are the group centres. Later in that section of the territory plan it does go into a little bit more detail, I believe.
I rise this afternoon to speak in favour of Mrs Dunne’s motion which calls on the government to consult with businesses, the Anglican Church and other users of the Hawker group centre. Many businesses in suburban shopping centres are doing it tough at the moment. Such local businesses are at the centre of our communities and provide essential services for Canberrans. More often than not, the businesses of suburban shopping centres are not franchises or subsidiaries but independent, standalone businesses. Hawker is no different. Often they are run by families and employ people from the immediate area. We in the Assembly must support these businesses because they support us and all Canberrans in our daily lives.
I would imagine that there are few people in our community that are better informed about local goings-on than the suburban chemist, the manager of the general store, the operator of the takeaway, the local postmaster, the minister or the newsagent. These business people and community leaders know what is happening and it is hard to pull the wool over their eyes.
I have spoken in the Assembly before about the good work churches do in our community. In Ginninderra, there are many churches that are all doing great work in making our community a better place to live. Christ Church Hawker is one such example.
We in the Canberra Liberals are committed to rejuvenating our suburbs where it is needed and we support appropriate development in our suburbs. We in the Canberra Liberals are also firm in our belief that we must actively consult our community when changes are proposed that affect them.
In Belconnen, there are five group centres. They are Jamison, Kaleen, Kippax, Charnwood and Hawker. Hawker is the smallest of the centres I just mentioned. Good developments that will make the area more sustainable will be supported. And that is certainly the case and certainly the view of the residents and tenants at Hawker.
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