Page 5613 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video
passed by the Assembly in August, provide a full list and a full schedule of master planning work for group centres, town centres and transport corridors according to the timetable of that motion.
MR SESELJA (Molonglo—Leader of the Opposition) (8.05): I commend Mr Hanson for bringing this motion forward tonight because this is part of a series of motions which we have seen in the Assembly, particularly driven by the Canberra Liberals, which are about focusing on local issues, which are about focusing on local centres. And there is no doubt that, when we look at core business for the ACT Assembly, core business for us as members of the ACT Assembly, our focus on our local centres, our focus on group centres, is a critical part of that. The master planning process is a critical part of that. I commend Mr Hanson for bringing this forward.
I commend also, in the discussion, Mr Smyth for his efforts in getting up a master plan for Kambah. As Mr Hanson said in his speech, if we were to look strategically around the ACT—and there is no doubt there is a case in a number of areas for master planning and better planning for local and group centres—and if we look at the last couple of debates that have been instigated by the Canberra Liberals in this place on these issues, these are two that very much stand out, and for a number of strategic reasons.
Kambah clearly stands out as an important centre. It is, I think, underutilised. It is a massive suburb which is not served by shops in the way that many other areas of Canberra are. That was one of the reasons why Mr Smyth was so forthright and so active in working for the people of Kambah in order to get that master plan up.
Likewise, Weston Creek has a particular strategic significance at the moment. As Mr Hanson has outlined, Weston Creek has a particular strategic significance because of the Molonglo development. The Molonglo development, being the only growth area, the only greenfield site, in the south of Canberra, has changed and will change the nature of Weston Creek. It will change the pressures. It will significantly add to the pressures on Weston Creek and particularly on the Weston Creek group centre.
As we know, in the early years of Molonglo—and blocks are now being released, blocks are being purchased—it is unlikely that we will see the kinds of facilities that people would desire and expect in their suburbs. That has been the case, as we have seen in developments in Gungahlin, and I think that is unlikely to change here. Whilst there may be some retail facilities, it is unlikely that they will give the kind of service that people would expect. Obviously Woden will be part of that answer but Weston Creek will be the most obvious answer to some of those concerns.
That is why it is particularly important that we look at a master planning process for Weston Creek. The Molonglo Valley has the potential to rapidly grow. And the first parts of the Molonglo Valley that we are talking about are really just extensions of Weston Creek. They are just adding to the size of Weston Creek.
Look at some of the numbers in terms of what we are looking at for Coombs and Wright. Coombs is projected to a have a population of 5,500 by 2019, and Wright, a population of 2,500. They are effectively part of Weston Creek. We can call them
Next page . . . . Previous page . . . . Speeches . . . . Contents . . . . Debates(HTML) . . . . PDF . . . . Video