Page 264 - Week 01 - Wednesday, 15 February 2012
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Tuggeranong and the Gartside traders have suffered very badly through the lack of parking space. Their businesses have suffered. There are safety issues that basically highlight the fact that, as the shopkeepers said in a very strong headline in the Chronicle last year, there is an accident waiting to happen there. And this minister has been warned about the issues that the shopkeepers face.
In fact, I recall bringing a petition before the Assembly in August of last year. Around 600 petitioners of the Australian Capital Territory wanted to draw to the attention of the Assembly:
Residents and others using the Erindale shopping precinct, particularly the business and facilities on both sides of Gartside Street, have over the past 12 months lost 52 car spaces due to recent and current developments.
And the petition was quite specific in the number of urgent issues that businesses and customers faced within the Erindale precinct. It requested an urgent response from the minister.
The minister did give us a response. I think it was around December, which, as I recall, was probably either just on the deadline for a response to be put in or a couple of weeks later. I have got a feeling it was actually after the deadline for the minister’s response to be tabled. The minister indicated:
The Environment and Sustainable Development Directorate … has responded to issues raised by the community in a number of ways, including:
extending community consultation;
developing an interagency traffic working group; and
completing an additional traffic and car parking study.
This is after, supposedly, there was enormous consultation, according to the minister, with the community in Erindale. But no, he agreed that there has got to be even more consultation now. He also mentioned in that response:
The following changes have been made to the Erindale Centre Master Planning project in response to the community consultation—
and he listed these—
reducing development and building heights (which—
we are told—
reduce traffic demands);
proposing improved pedestrian links in Erindale;
proposing additional car parking areas in Erindale …
The key word here is “proposing”. The Erindale community, the Erindale traders, the Gartside Street traders, had looked at the options that were available to this minister’s department to look at immediate fixes to problems that affect them greatly. But no, we are still only looking at:
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