Page 1817 - Week 05 - Thursday, 2 April 2009
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living. Canberrans do not have to cross the border to enjoy a rural residential lifestyle. It is available in the territory, most particularly at Uriarra.
Redevelopment of Uriarra village by the Village Building Co is proceeding well. When the village is complete, there will be 100 dwellings at Uriarra, of which 23 will be public housing. A separate contract has been signed with the Village Building Co for the reconstruction of the 17 dwellings that were lost at Uriarra in the January 2003 bushfires and work, I am advised, on those 17 buildings will be complete in the very near future. The existing dwellings will then be upgraded, once the work on those 17 new dwellings is complete.
The ACT government, through the Department of Disability, Housing and Community Services, and the Village Building Co are consulting closely with original residents about the redevelopment of Uriarra village. There is a community association at Uriarra, and the former school building is being used as a community facility. Significantly, community title has been adopted at Uriarra village. It is intended that the community will be responsible for the maintenance of the common property. That arrangement will, of course, help engender a greater sense of community and common ownership of the village.
The 17 dwellings that were destroyed at Stromlo have been rebuilt. The village will ultimately comprise 40 dwellings, of which 20 will be public housing. Some former residents have chosen not to return to Stromlo village. These properties have been allocated to former residents of rural properties that were destroyed or to suitable tenants from the Housing ACT waiting list. Three properties at Stromlo survived the 2003 fires. The two properties that are on territory land will be refurbished and upgraded, and work on one of the properties has been completed and a former resident has returned to that particular home.
While most Canberrans are suburban dwellers, the villages, including those being rebuilt after the fires, are a reminder certainly of our more bucolic past and indeed are a reflection or a mirror of Canberra before the decision to establish the national capital here. There will always be Canberrans who yearn for a more countrified existence, who desire a rural residential lifestyle that combines the best of both worlds. As anyone who has lived in a genuinely small town, as I have, knows, there are swings and roundabouts attached to any lifestyle choice. Governments govern for all of those who depend upon them, and that involves many balancing acts and many unpalatable decisions.
The closures of the Hall and Tharwa primary schools were two such decisions and they are decisions from which this government does not resile. Education dollars are finite. It is the duty of government to apportion them in a way that maximises the educational return. The education budget is not there to be used to support other aspects of the community’s life, nor do I believe that most Canberrans would think it appropriate that governments allocate education dollars for the ulterior motive of, say, supporting a local shopping centre or creating passing traffic for local traders.
I have certainly no hesitation in acknowledging that the closure of the Hall and Tharwa schools has had significant impacts beyond the school gate. Those impacts
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