Page 2043 - Week 07 - Wednesday, 6 August 2014
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Mr Rattenbury interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Order, Mr Rattenbury.
Mr Coe interjecting—
MADAM SPEAKER: Mr Coe!
MR DOSZPOT: The list is endless but the criticisms are consistent. Poor planning, even poorer consultation, lack of proper costings that lead to cost blowouts on just about every project you can name are almost hallmarks of this government.
So when Canberra residents are presented with yet another glossy brochure on a major development within a suburb, is it any wonder that their suspicion levels rise and they want to see the detail? As one letter writer to the Canberra Times said recently:
The ACT Government is in danger of getting a reputation for thinking that glossy artists’ impressions of their latest project will make do, rather than providing hard facts, figures and analysis from independent experts.
He was referring, in this case, to the light rail project, but he went on to say:
… unfortunately the light rail project is not the first or the last attempt at community consultation by pretty pictures. The latest of these has been foisted on Yarralumla and Deakin residents …
This level of cynicism and distrust from the community should be a worrying concern to the government but it clearly is not, because it is a mistake they make over and over again. The current plan has a number of obvious flaws and, not surprisingly, they have been well and truly identified and exposed by various submissions and at numerous meetings of residents. When I say “residents”, I am not only referring to residents in Yarralumla but to residents in all areas of the inner south suburbs who know and appreciate what good consultation is and should be.
Effective consultation is not just being presented with a document, a limited explanation and little opportunity for dialogue, which was what the ACT government has offered. For example, the Land Development Agency had only one information half-day at the brickworks site on the latest proposal and there was no representative from Roads ACT to discuss and explain road infrastructure, a major bone of contention, as the numerous submissions indicate.
By comparison, residents of the inner south have consulted widely and personally with everyone and through their various associations. For example, the Yarralumla Residents Association, the YRA, has engaged widely with both Yarralumla and Deakin residents as well as those from other affected suburbs. They have letterboxed every Yarralumla household. They held a public meeting with Yarralumla residents and co-sponsored a wider forum with the Inner South Canberra Community Council and the Deakin Residents Association.
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