Page 491 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 19 March 2014
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I want to turn briefly to some of the projects that are happening in my electorate of Ginninderra because I want to show that this government is supporting new developments and investments right across the ACT. I want to talk about the new health centres, and particularly the ones on my side of town, in Gungahlin and Belconnen.
I have had personal experience with both of these centres, for cracked teeth on my 10-year-old son. We spent some time in the dental surgery getting those repaired in both of the centres—in the Gungahlin centre first and then in the newly opened Belconnen health centre. My own personal experience and the stories that I have heard from neighbours and people that I talk to in west Belconnen have been very positive about both of these new facilities. I am sure Mr Gentleman and Ms Burch could tell the same positive stories about what is happening on the other side of our beautiful city.
The Belconnen Community Health Centre is not just providing new and innovative health services to the ACT; it is also providing opportunities for community organisations to set up social enterprises in the facility, in the form of a cafe which provides opportunities for people with disabilities to learn and get their qualifications in hospitality and to be able to work in a sector that they probably would not have had an opportunity to work in previously. So not only are we providing good services to the people that live in this city but also we are providing services for people inside that to be able to work and thus provide even more to their local community.
I refer also to the women’s and children’s centre, which Mr Rattenbury referred to earlier. I have been to the new women’s and children’s health centre, and particularly the paediatrics unit, with my son when he had a broken nose. Also, a couple of weeks ago, I was very lucky to have a nephew born in the birth centre. Again, whilst childbirth can be an experience in itself, the experience in the birth centre was a very positive one and we have a beautiful new nephew whose birth we are celebrating.
This government is working very closely with the Riverview Group to build 4½ thousand homes in west Belconnen. Mr Rattenbury has already talked about the way that this developer is communicating with the community and how they are consulting about their project. So far this development has been a good model for all greenfields developments in the ACT.
The Riverview Group have undertaken extensive environmental research and have committed to protecting much of the riverland surrounding the development and building as sustainably as possible. To their credit, they have also committed to a new level of community consultation. Riverview have held a significant number of community forums, engaging with local residents, businesses and community groups, and they have also opened a shopfront in the existing community, in the Kippax centre at Holt.
It is not often that you will find me giving praise to property developers this easily, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I do want to highlight the positive role that government can play when it works closely with business to support the creation of jobs and to promote good investment in the ACT.
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