Page 5615 - Week 13 - Wednesday, 17 November 2010
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Valley, which are sure to be using the Weston Creek group centre, I think for all of these reasons it is reasonable that we have a master plan for this area.
I would say to the government again that this is about priorities. We highlight time and again the amount of money that this government wastes. Every week we see stories of wasteful expenditure by this government. The people of Weston Creek, I am sure, would prefer to see their centre well planned. They would prefer to see the car parking situation at their centre resolved. They would prefer to see a situation where some money is spent on their local centre and on a master planning process so that they are ready for the growth that is coming and they are ready for the demographic changes rather than, I think, what we have seen.
We point to all sorts of expenditure. We point to the arboretum. We point to the overemphasis on public art. We point to the waste and mismanagement with individual agencies. We point to the cost blow-outs in projects. We point to all of these things where money is wasted. Where people want to see expenditure is in these core services. That is the feedback we get.
Jeremy Hanson is one of the most active local members in the Assembly. He is well known to the Weston Creek community, well known at Cooleman Court. If you go to any of the shops and you do a visit and a walk through Cooleman Court, most of them will tell you that they recently had Jeremy Hanson in their shops. Jeremy is doing an excellent job.
I commend this motion because I think it is about the core issues that the people of Weston Creek care about. It is about taking those issues to the Assembly and I therefore commend the motion to all members of the Assembly.
MS LE COUTEUR (Molonglo) (8.15): Firstly, let me say that I agree with the basic sentiment of Mr Hanson’s motion. There are, in fact, many improvements that need to be made at the Weston Group Centre for the benefit of the residents living in this area. As Mr Hanson is a local resident, I appreciate that he has a particular interest in the area. I also understand his point that the establishment of Molonglo will increase the number of people using Cooleman Court and increase the pressures on the infrastructure of the group centre.
As an example, I held a public forum earlier in the year about active transport. The area around Cooleman Court was actually used as a case study during the forum by one of the speakers. The options for people visiting Cooleman Court to use footpaths, cycle paths and public transport are not good. There are paths that go nowhere, areas without paths at all and paths that are broken and dangerous. This makes it pretty hard for the ageing people in the area and for young mothers pushing prams to get about by foot. This, of course, contributes to the parking problems that Mr Hanson mentions in his motion and talked about at length in his speech.
As we have been saying, a crucial element of improving Weston Creek is delivering a public transport system that works for the people of Weston Creek. Currently Weston Creek bus services need to improve frequency and rapid connections to the major employment zone of the parliamentary triangle. It is heartening that the 2031 strategic
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