Page 2711 - Week 08 - Tuesday, 23 June 2009
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believe that spending money on education is throwing good money after bad. As we know, Kingsford Smith school opened at the beginning of term 1 in 2009. The primary-level catchment area for this school includes the suburbs of Holt, Higgins, and part of the new residential development of west Macgregor, and the secondary level includes the suburbs of Macgregor, Latham and Dunlop—suburbs, of course, all in the outer areas of Belconnen.
The February 2009 census shows total enrolment of 761 students, comprising enrolments from preschool to year 7, with 126 enrolments in year 7. The school will eventually be able to accommodate approximately 1,100 students. The school design provides flexible, modern, high-quality, environmentally sustainable education facilities that will be accessible to the Belconnen community.
Obviously aspects that affect transport to the outer suburbs are important. A traffic impact assessment for Macgregor West has identified the need to improve a number of intersections and residential streets to manage the traffic associated with the residential development in that area. Design work will be undertaken to reduce the levels of traffic to acceptable levels, manage these flows on the road network and assist public transport and pedestrian movements.
This government is also committed to achieving improved services and facilities in town centres in the outer suburbs of my electorate. The ACT government, in partnership with Westfield, is undertaking a significant improvement to the Westfield shopping centre and Belconnen bus station arrangements that will deliver improved public transport and shopping facilities for residents of the area and revitalise Belconnen shopping facilities, creating new opportunities for small business and providing locals with greater choice and variety in retail shopping. The new Belconnen bus station arrangements will provide better access to public transport and pedestrian routes and hopefully encourage more Canberrans to use public transport, a great example of government working in partnership with the private sector.
As we know, walking is great exercise and very important at any age. However, as we age, cracked footpaths can be a hazard. For this reason, I had footpath repairs carried out in eight suburbs in my electorate last term, and a number of these suburbs are in the outer areas of Canberra.
The ACT government is delivering a new state-of-the-art police facility in Belconnen, at a cost of $17 million. This facility will provide a police precinct which will enhance interaction between the community and the police, while also addressing critical operational needs of ACT Policing across Belconnen.
I am very pleased to see underway the Belconnen Arts Centre on the shores of Lake Ginninderra, which represents a multi-million-dollar investment for the Belconnen community by the ACT government, and it will deliver great opportunities for tens of thousands of locals to engage in community events. It has extremely strong community support and includes many different aspects in stage 1. Stage 1 is nearing completion and after that, of course, it will be followed by stage 2. The ACT government is committed to delivering a facility that will be accessible to everyone in the community and will build on the many different art programs in Belconnen, especially in the community.
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