Page 2444 - Week 08 - Thursday, 6 June 2013
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significant growth in the region. Riverview is a big development that is going to mean some changes for west Belconnen. It is exciting to imagine the potential this development will bring for infrastructure renewal and increased services for the west Belconnen community—new schools, shops, buses and childcare places are just some of the potential benefits.
I would like to take this opportunity to say to my friends and neighbours in west Belconnen that it is okay to be concerned about the stress that a larger population could place on our community. No-one wants it to be harder to park at Kippax shops or spend longer on Drake Brockman Drive getting to work each morning. It is for this reason I believe it is important that everybody contributes to the planning for this development.
It is people who live in west Belconnen who know which roads will bottleneck on the school run, which bus routes will need to be extended and which of our local shops are already experiencing parking pressure. It is also these people who know what makes west Belconnen a great place to live. I have lived in west Belconnen all my life and it is the laid-back community spirit and the quiet parks that allow me to be as confident sending my kids off for a walk with the dog or a ride down to the creek as my parents were 30 years ago.
It is a place where everyone shops locally because we will see people we know and support workers who are part of our community. Most of all, west Belconnen is a diverse community that values people for the contributions they make to our schools, sporting societies and clubs and not on their income or background. I believe everyone deserves not only to own a home but to be part of a thriving community. It is active participation in the planning process by all current residents that will allow decisions to be made that both maintain our quality of life and open up the opportunity for more people to enjoy the same privilege. I look forward to talking with everybody in my community about how we can make west Belconnen both bigger and better over the coming years.
Dr Peggy Brown—Margaret Tobin award
MS GALLAGHER (Molonglo—Chief Minister, Minister for Regional Development, Minister for Health and Minister for Higher Education) (5.07): It is with great pleasure that I inform the Assembly of a very prestigious award awarded last week to the Director-General of ACT Health—the 2013 Margaret Tobin award. This award was established in 2003 as a tribute to the memory of Dr Margaret Tobin, and it is awarded by the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Psychiatrists. The award is made to a college fellow who has made the most significant contribution to administrative psychiatry in Australia and New Zealand over the preceding five years.
Dr Brown was nominated for this award by her peers. The selection process included consideration of Dr Brown’s involvement in administrative psychiatry, her contributions of international repute, as well as the importance of her work to the field of study. This award is a significant achievement, and it is designed to honour special achievement in administrative psychiatry. Dr Brown is the first ACT recipient and received her award last week at the college’s congress in Sydney.
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