Page 1188 - Week 04 - Wednesday, 20 March 2013
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13 local shopping centres to improve safety and accessibility and provide new lighting, street furniture and landscaping over a four to five-year period. This represents a funding increase almost double the previous period.
Turning to how shopping centres are upgraded, the public spaces surrounding the leased land at shopping centres are upgraded via the shopping centre upgrade program. Centres are selected for an upgrade via a priority listing based on an assessment of a range of criteria, including the age and condition of assets, levels of usage and visitation and the demographics of the surrounding area. The most recent assessment was undertaken in 2012. Three shopping centres currently being upgraded: Red Hill, where construction commenced in late January 2013, with completion by December this year; Farrer, where construction commenced in February 2013, with completion in December; and Waramanga, which I have previously mentioned, where construction commenced in March 2013, with completion in October.
In terms of the near future, I have already mentioned Chapman shopping centre, where the forward design study is currently underway, and forward design studies for the Evatt, Florey and Hughes shops are scheduled to commence in April 2013. There are also forward design studies for minor upgrades underway at Charnwood, Cook, Griffith, Lyneham, Theodore, Torrens, Banks, Kambah—the Mannheim Street shopping centre, because Kambah has more than one shopping centre—and Rivett.
I would like to take this opportunity to highlight other initiatives and actions undertaken by TAMS that demonstrate the priority it places on local shopping centres. In 2012-13 ACT government implemented several initiatives specifically targeting local shopping centres, including the urban improvement program and the improve municipal services program, which allocated funding totalling $430,000. This is in addition to the upgrade programs that I have already spoken about.
Priorities for shopping centre upgrades are planned and considered. A comprehensive audit program was developed and completed most recently in 2012, as I said, to determine what works are required at local shopping centres. This audit considered furniture, including seats, tables, bins and toilets, the state of shrub beds, and drinking fountains. As part of the 2012-13 urban improvement program nine shopping centres will receive a total of 48 new seats, three new picnic settings and 85 new bins and shrouds. A large number of small bins are being removed and replaced with larger bins. Funding of $270,000 has been allocated to upgrade furniture and bins. These works will be completed by the middle of this year.
The improved municipal services initiative allocated $160,000 to the refurbishment of shrub beds at 49 local shopping centres across Canberra. This work also used the data from the 2012 asset condition audit and involved the removal of dead shrubs, mulching, replanting, pruning and weeding of shrub beds. Now, in saying this, I would hate to discourage Mrs Jones from starting a gardening club for Canberra shopping centres, because a bit of community initiative is always a welcome thing. I am sure TAMS would be happy to discuss in partnership with Mrs Jones and the local leaseholders any initiative she would like to launch.
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