Page 5606 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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Molonglo I speak to many people in the area who are concerned that not only is the current infrastructure in place not adequate to serve the local community but the problem is only going to get worse.
I have spent many an hour speaking with business owners in the area and with community groups accessing the area and spent many hours standing outside Cooleman Court before I became a member and now as a local member. There is no better way to find out the issues of the area than by speaking to the people, and this is what I have done. And their message is clear: they want action to be taken and they know that it needs to be done now.
The question is going to be asked by Mr Barr no doubt as to why we are requesting this master plan when a motion was passed in August by my Liberal colleagues and it was amended so that it called for a list of group and town centres to be addressed. The August motion was part of the answer to address a number of infrastructure problems we have around the city of ours. However, it is clear that this government simply cannot be trusted to make sound planning decisions.
I note that we would not have had a Kambah master plan if it had not been raised by Mr Smyth. We are not going to stop holding the government to account on their planning problems just because they promised to produce a list of priorities. We and the residents of Weston Creek cannot wait until 2011 to find out that this Labor Government have placed Cooleman Court halfway down the list when much more urgent action is needed.
I am not arguing that there are not other areas of the ACT that are in need of master plans; of course there are. But this government has been in office for three terms and many services and community facilities and commercial areas have fallen apart. However, we have done our own research—we have talked to the people and we have listened to the people—and this is an area that must be a priority. The Weston Group Centre is not only under pressure now but is going to bear the full brunt of the new Molonglo and North Weston developments.
Calling for a plan like this is about ensuring that Weston Creek and its surrounding areas are sustainable in the short and long term. Already we see strain placed on the services currently available. Parking is at capacity, community facilities are run down and the services available to community members are inadequate. A plan is about creating a big picture idea of what is currently there, what needs to be there and how we are going to get it there. Buildings are permanent. It is dangerous to let ad hoc development without a central idea, as it is difficult and costly to rectify. Planning like this not only provides the community with what it needs but also saves money for the government in the long term.
I think it is appropriate to provide a short history of the Weston Creek area to highlight just how important the community there is to the history and culture of the ACT. Named after George Edward Weston, a former officer of the East India Company who arrived in Australia in 1825, Weston Creek has grown to be a reflection of the development of Australia. All the suburbs in Weston Creek are named after notable Australians and all the streets follow a theme of Australian rivers,
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